The movie industry in the United States is a very lucrative one, raking in billions of dollars in revenue annually.
With the ascendancy of streaming services and cable platforms sweetening their offerings and pumping more cash in what is now a highly competitive industry, the salaries for actors have also seen a very significant rise.
At the end of the day, it’s who has the best actors, as well as, the smorgasbord of shows that attracts more viewership and revenue from sponsors and advertisers.
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With that being said, Variety revealed the salaries of some of Hollywood’s top actors, explaining the evolution of their earnings and how it has played out.
“At this particular moment in time there’s a feeding frenzy,” Dante Di Loreto, Fremantle president of scripted entertainment for North America told the entertainment platform.
“There’s a lot of money that has been dropped into the television universe because of new companies entering the market and a desire to make an impact really quickly.”
The intense competition between old and new streaming services as well as cable platforms was also cited as a reason.
“There definitely has been some dramatic salary inflation, in part as new services try to buy their way into the business,” Showtime Networks entertainment co-president Gary Levine said. “We’re paying more than we have, for sure. And that’s fine. But we have not had to give in completely to the hysteria of the marketplace.”
Inasmuch as these actors surely deserve what they’re earning, the significantly low number of black actors on the list shows the disturbing racial and salary inequality in Hollywood.
Take a look at how much these black actors are paid per show, according to Variety.
