Jason Isaacs has confirmed the “very low” salary each White Lotus cast member was paid to be a part of the hit HBO drama.
The Harry Potter star, 62, who featured in Mike White’s Emmy-winning anthology as the manic Ratliff patriarch, Timothy, revealed that compared to other big-time TV salaries, they received a “very low price.”
In a new interview with Vulture, Isaacs was asked about the $40,000 per episode paycheck each actor had collected.
“I didn’t know that was public knowledge,” he admitted. “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,” he said, insisting that the entire cast “would have paid to be in it. We probably would have given a body part.”
Given there were eight episodes in the third season, each actor would have made approximately $320,000 for their time. What’s more, every actor in the main cast received the same compensation, regardless of star power or experience.
When asked if he had any complicated feelings about making the same amount as his younger co-stars, like Patrick Schwarzenegger, who played his onscreen son Saxon, the prolific British actor said: “I never work for money.
“I mean, I’ve done all right,” Isaacs added. “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.”
The subject of The White Lotus cast salaries became a major headline in April, when producer David Bernard revealed that each actor is “paid the same,” and it’s “not negotiable.”
“So you’re getting people who want to do the project for the right reasons,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a system we developed in the first season because there was no money to make the show.”
“It makes it so much easier,” casting director Meredith Tucker said. “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.”
Season three starred an ensemble cast of Isaacs, Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Natasha Rothwell, LISA, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, Aimee Lou Wood, Jon Gries, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sam Nivola, Sarah Catherine Hook, Christian Friedel, Tayme Thapthimthong, Patravadi Mejudhon, and Charlotte Le Bon.
It’s expected to receive several Emmy nominations next month for the September ceremony.
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