American actors, when they sign for a series, practically offer even their first-born child to the studio. They often commit to filming six seasons of the production for a fixed salary when they are barely aware of the working conditions and are unaware of the success they will have in their role. Luckily, there are also channels that understand that, if their series is an unquestionable success, they must compensate the actors to keep peace during filming. And who are the latest to get a rare pay raise in Hollywood? The protagonists of Ghosts, the American adaptation of the British BBC series.
Viewers who obsess over million-dollar salaries likely think these pinches are harmless. Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar will receive $250,000 for each episode of the third season, which will premiere in February in the US. They are Sam and Jay, a couple who settle in an old mansion full of ghosts with whom she meets. can communicate after suffering a near-fatal accident. And they, who are not used to communicating with the living, decide to take advantage of the situation: from snooping into relationship problems to asking for specific movies to be shown on the television.
If we take into account that this season will have 10 episodes, due to the actors' and writers' strike that delayed its production, this means that 2.5 million will be taken in the coming weeks. But, taking into account that the second season had 22 episodes, this implies that for the fourth they could earn 5.5 million if they return to the traditional production rate on free-to-air television.
The ghosts of the mansion, who make up a particular crazy family, are not far behind: Brandon Scott Jones, Richie Moriarty, Danielle Pinnock, Asher Grodman, Román Zaragoza, Sheila Carrasco, Rebecca Wisocky and Devan Chandler Long will have a salary of $100,000 per episode. This is a substantial increase: for the first two seasons, their salaries ranged between $35,000 and $55,000 depending on their credentials before participating in Ghosts.
This increase, for the record, was obtained thanks to standing up. Initially, as Deadline reports, CBS Studios did not plan to increase the salaries of the supporting actors, only those of McIver and Ambudkar. But the actors were absent from filming as a complaint and finally received their share of the pie for being the second most watched comedy on free-to-air television with more than 11 million viewers, and being a valuable asset for the Paramount streaming platform. where it is the most watched comedy.
This contract renegotiation during the production of the third season is considered practically a rarity in a free-to-air television in decline, which is precisely looking for a way to save on content production. You only have to look at the recent cancellation of titles like Young Sheldon or Blue Bloods not so much due to lack of audience but due to the increase in production costs. And, although salaries are far from the million per episode of actors like those in The Big Bang Theory, they do significantly increase the budget per episode: permanent actors have a fixed cost of 1.3 million per episode.
Fantasmas en España is broadcast on the TNT channel and, therefore, its first two seasons can be seen on Movistar Plus. On the same platform, you can also see the original BBC version, which precisely closes the story on December 25 with a Christmas special.
