How Much Celebrities Earn in Residual Checks by the Numbers

Many working actors earn residual paychecks anytime {that a} TV present they appeared on air in reruns.

Such sums even assist stars comparable to Mandy Moore and Glen Powell pay their dwelling bills between jobs.

“Ours is a fickle industry and in my 20+ years of being a performer, my career has ebbed and flowed,” Moore, who has been performing since she was a teen, wrote by way of Instagram in July 2023. “I’ve had very lean years where I couldn’t get a job and those are precisely the moments when in years past, actors could rely on residuals from their past work to help them get by.”

Powell, for his half, tweeted that very same month that he used to outlive on residuals “for years” when he was nonetheless making an attempt to “make it as a working actor.”

Many actors have since seen their residual verify quantities dwindle with the onset of streaming platforms. Due to the staggeringly low quantities, members of the SAG-AFTRA performing union known as out the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) for refusing to compromise on higher phrases concerning residual checks throughout contract negotiations. As a end result, the SAG actors went on strike in July 2023 shortly after the Writers Guild of America stood up for related causes.

Keep studying to learn the way a lot the stars actually make in residuals:

Mandy Moore

Moore has obtained 81-cent checks for streaming residuals of This Is Us, the Emmy-winning drama that she starred in between 2016 and 2022. “I was talking with my business manager who said he’s received a residual for a penny and two pennies,” she informed The Hollywood Reporter on the picket traces in July 2023.

Robert Carradine

The Lizzie McGuire alum — who performed Hilary Duff’s onscreen father on the Disney Channel collection — as soon as obtained a residual verify in August 2019 for $0. While Carradine didn’t reveal what program the verify was for, it had been despatched by Walt Disney Pictures. (In addition to Lizzie, Carradine has starred in a number of different Disney tasks.)

Carradine’s Lizzie McGuire costars have additionally seen equally low residuals. Davida Williams, who performed cheerleader Claire Miller, revealed on her Lizzie McGuire recap podcast in March 2023 that she normally will get a sum of $3.50 or much less.

“It used to be, like, you’d have to take this huge stack of checks every month for residuals over to the bank and deposit them,” Jake Thomas (a.okay.a. Lizzie’s little brother Matt) chimed in at the time. “But the huge stack would be like, ‘Oh, this is a massive stack. This is $8.’”

Kendrick Sampson

Sampson, who starred as Nathan on HBO’s Insecure between 2018 and 2021, obtained 56 residual checks in July 2023. However, they solely totaled $86, which was not sufficient to cowl his month-to-month payments, which he shared on Instagram.

William Stanford Davis

Davis, who is understood for his position as Mr. Johnson on ABC’s Abbott Elementary, revealed by way of Instagram in July 2023 that he as soon as acquired a verify for five cents. “The postage, the paper, everything costs more than that. That’s what they think of us as actors,” he stated at the time. “This is why we’re on strike for better wages, for better residuals [and] for a piece of the subscription.”

Kimiko Glenn

Glenn, who performed inmate Brook Soso on Orange Is The New Black, confirmed off a handful of residual paystubs by way of TikTookay in July 2023. They solely amounted to $27.

Constance Marie

Marie shared a duplicate of her paystubs by way of TikTookay in July 2023, noting she’s gotten between 3 cents and 74 cents in residuals for repeat viewings of Freeform’s Switched at Birth. (Marie was one in every of the fundamental characters on the present for 5 years, even sustaining an harm from extreme American Sign Language use.)

Heather Matarazzo

The Princess Diaries star clapped again at TikTookay followers’ assertions that she was wealthy by displaying her residuals. Several of the checks had been lower than 10 cents every.

Jana Schmieding

“To fans of my character Bev on Reservation Dogs, here’s a peek behind the IHS counter at what part of my residuals looks like for acting on a show that I love,” Schmieding tweeted in July 2023. “I pull in $.03 each quarter for UNLIMITED worldwide streams on fx/hulu/DISNEY.”

Brandee Evans

Evans, who’s greatest identified for her position as Mercedes Woodine on P-Valley, acquired three residual checks in July 2023 for $3.99, $4.67 and 1 cent, respectively.