Most of us put on that between " starving doer " and " famous person , " there has to be a sweet spot where thespians can recover modest body of work and still make a hefty income . But what happens when a show is canceled ? Can an actor who played a small part on a modestly successful show move to the Caribbean and live off the television royal house evermore ?
SAG - AFTRA calculates residualsbased on formulas that consider an worker ’s contract , time spend on the output , the production case and the market where the show appears . The amount paid out decreases after each rerun — so by the 13th rerun , the amount has decreased to 5 percentage of the original fee the actor was pay for her appearance in an instalment . This 5 percent will be paid every time an episode is track down eternally . In general , only " principal performers " get residuals [ reference : Andres ] . Background actors or " spear carrier " ( random violent storm trooper on " The Mandalorian , " for instance ) do not usually obtain residuals .
accord to one jolting calculation , if each of the stars of the hit ' 90s situation comedy " Friends " received residuals at the normal SAG - AFTRA charge per unit , they would get around $ 10,000 in residuals for each episode of the show in syndication [ source : Andres ] . With 236 instalment in reruns , that would add up to a handsome residual check of $ 2,360,000 per actor . In actuality , the " Friends " cast negotiated even higher residuals , with one estimate earning them nearer to $ 20 million a year in syndication [ source : Farrow ] .
Getting a big residual depends a lot on what the stars of the show talk terms during their prison term on the serial . In 2016 , Dawn Wells , star topology of ' 60s hit and recurrent rerun " Gilligan ’s Island " say that a " misconception is that we must be wealthy , rolling in the dough , because we got residuals . We did n’t really get a dime . Sherwood Schwartz , our manufacturer , reportedly made $ 90 million on the rerun alone " [ informant : Farrow ] .
Actors who play bit function , or even pass actors whose appearance are less successful , also receive residual income , but the amounts are often small — sometimes preposterously so . The mega - copious knocker Drake started off as a teen actor with a star theatrical role on " Degrassi : The Next contemporaries " from 2001 to 2007 . In 2016 , he posted a motion picture on Instagram of a check for $ 8.25 ( Canadian dollars or U.S. $ 6.58 ) that he take was a residuary stop from the show [ source : Chin ] . " Degrassi money still come in do n’t kip … " posted Drake sardonically .
Actor Jeff Cohen , who appeared in one episode of the 1980s sitcom " The Facts of Life,“wrote an articlefor Backstage magazine describing how he spent a $ 0.67 residuary hinderance . He choose it to Maeve ’s Re$iduals , a pub that once sell a free drink for any SAG - AFTRA check of $ 1 or less . possibly actors who ca n’t live off their royalties can at least pledge off their royalties forever ?
