The White Lotus season three may have left our screens months ago, but with rumours of cast feuds and talks of an ‘All Star’ series in the works, the Mike White project is still dominating the headlines.
It is the A-list cast that has made the most news, with season three boasting an impressive line up from Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey, to Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell.
And particularly their wages – with it emerging earlier this year that the HBO show has a strict rule on cast salaries.
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According to producers, everyone is paid the same on the show, with the non-negotiable rule seeing major Hollywood names earn the same as relative newcomers.
“Everyone is treated the same on The White Lotus,” producer David Bernad explained earlier this year in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “They get paid the same, and we do alphabetical billing, so you’re getting people who want to do the project for the right reasons, not to quote The Bachelor. It’s a system we developed in the first season because there was no money to make the show.”
The cast salaries? Approximately $40,000 an episode, which amounts to around $320,000 in total for the season.
(Image credit: © Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.)
Season three actor Jason Isaacs weighed in on the surprising rule in a recent interview with Vulture, when asked for his thoughts.
“I didn’t know that was public knowledge,” Isaacs responded. “That’s absolutely true. Generally actors don’t talk about pay in public because it’s ridiculously disproportionate to what we do – putting on makeup and funny voices – and just upsets the public. But compared to what people normally get paid for big television shows, that’s a very low price. But the fact is, we would have paid to be in it. We probably would have given a body part.”
He continued: “Do I mind that I wasn’t paid more than other people? I never work for money. I’ve done all right. People will think I have huge stockpiles of money but sadly, what I’ve done rather immaturely is expand my outgoings to match my incomings and pretty much spent everything I’ve earned over the years.”
(Image credit: Fabio Lovino/HBO)
“It makes it so much easier,” Casting Director Meredith Tucker has explained of the show’s salary rule. “You tell people this is what it is. And some won’t do it, and honestly, you can’t hold it against people who need to make a living. Our series regulars are pretty much doing this for scale.”
Well, that’s that.