Being an actor can be a very lucrative line of work.
The stars of long-running, mega-hit TV shows can bring home $1 million an episode.
Even better: actors get residual paychecks whenever their movie or TV show gets aired
(or re-aired) on TV, gets sold to a streaming service like Netflix, is re-released to movie
theaters, or even shown on an airplane.
That means they get paid again even though they didn't do anything!
Production companies use a complicated formula to determine how much actors get paid, and
some get more than others.
Here are some television actors who earn a very substantial living just off the reruns
of their old work.
Cast of Friends
Friends don't always last forever, but the show Friends just might.
The NBC sitcom ranks as one of the most beloved and re-run television comedies of all time.
According to the New York Times, by the end of the show, collective cast bargaining had
boosted the salaries for all six friends to a very friendly $1 million dollars per episode,
each.
The show's reruns went into syndication in 1998, and in 2015 and the entire series went
to Netflix, which has only served to feed the public's insatiable need to watch Ross
and Rachel break-up and make up.
Basically, Friends is always on, and that translates into big residuals for the main
cast.
According to USA Today, Friends generates $1 billion dollars per year for production
company Warner Brothers.
Of that, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, and
David Schwimmer are contractually entitled to 2 percent — which works out to about
$20 million for each and every one of them.
"Pivot!
Pivot!"
"Shut Up!
Shut up!
Shut up!"
Ricky Gervais
Even with his many successful hit shows, comedian and actor Ricky Gervais will forever be known
for the series that made him famous and launched a comedy revolution.
The BBC comedy The Office was produced in a mockumentary style that would be widely
imitated, and Gervais starred as the self-deluded boss for two seasons.
"And I went traveling… and exploring...."
"Exploring the south?"
"...and Asia."
But he really made a fortune when the show was internationally syndicated and remade
for other countries — notably the American version of The Office starring Steve Carell.
The enduring popularity of his franchised Office has made Gervais very wealthy.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, he's valued at about $90 million.
Ray Romano
Stand-up comedian and family sitcom star Ray Romano has proven himself to be a very talented
dramatic actor, but his best known work is the Emmy-winning and extraordinarily successful
CBS comedy Everybody Loves Raymond.
Everybody, indeed, loves Raymond, and they still do.
Reruns of the show play on local stations and all over cable TV, which means huge residual
checks for Romano, the star and co-creator of the series.
According to Forbes, he recently placed third on a list of the highest-paid TV actors, even
though he didn't currently have a show on the air.
His $18 million haul came almost entirely from Raymond residuals.
Jerry Seinfeld
In part because he's co-creator as well as the star of the show, Jerry Seinfeld earns
a ton of money when an episode of Seinfeld airs on a local station or on Hulu.
And those episodes air a lot — it's still a major force in syndicated television, even
though its been off the air for 20 years.
According to Forbes, Jerry Seinfeld earned $900 million over the past decade, primarily
from old Seinfeld episodes.
That works out to an incredible $90 million a year.
"Congratulations!
How do you feel?
What is that like?"
Seinfeld doesn't need to work unless he wants to, which is probably why he hasn't done too
many major live-action projects since his sitcom ended.
But people just love him so much that when his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
jumped from Crackle to Netflix, Seinfeld pocketed about $100 million, according to The Hollywood
Reporter.
Robert Pine
The definition of "working actor," you've most certainly seen Robert Pine's work if
you've ever watched television.
Pine has appeared in hundreds of films and TV episodes since the mid-1960s.
If he's best known for anything, it's for his longest-running TV role, as Sergeant Joe
on the classic cop show CHiPs.
In 1998, Pine told the Los Angeles Daily News that his residual checks alone were enough
to finance both his son and daughter's college educations.
That son, by the way, is Hollywood A-lister Chris Pine.
Thanks, Dad!
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