Stars of “The Walking Dead” are “paid a pittance” compared to their counterparts from different US TV shows according to a new report.
Two of the biggest names on the show, Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, earn less than £100,000 (about $124,000) an episode, with Lincoln said to be making just £74,000 (about $92,000).
While this sounds like a lot of money, in comparison to shows of the same caliber in the US, the pay is massively different.
The cast of “The Big Bang Theory” coined in over £18 million (about $22 million) each for the most recent series, while “Gilmore Girls” stars Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham made just over £2 million (about $2.5 million) per episode.
Uproxx looked into the salary discrepancies and mused that while it was possible producers of the hit AMC show couldn’t “afford to pay all its actors ‘market rates’” because of the size of the cast – it seemed unlikely.
“The Walking Dead” is reported to have doubled AMC’s advertising revenue since it started in 2010, meaning there is a lot of money which doesn’t seem to be filtering down to the cast.
The digital company also looked into whether the pay difference was down to the changing nature of the show.
Uproxx wrote, “’The Walking Dead’ can kill any cast member it wants at any time, meaning that rather than give in to the salary demands of the cast (there was speculation the cast has rallied together to ask for a raise in 2014), it can kill off expensive characters at its leisure. Indeed, doing so will not only save the series money, but it may give the show a ratings boost.”
However it seems things are changing for the cast, with recent reports claiming Lincoln and Reedus will get pay rises for the seventh and eight series.
Lincoln is said to be looking at a huge rise, earning him over £500,000 (about $618,000) per episode while Reedus will get £450,000 (about $550,000).