Jason Isaacs Talks Pay For The White Lotus And Harry Potter
On each season of The White Lotus, the cast has been made up of a range of actors, from young newcomers to household names, and even some fully-fledged Oscar winners. However, when it comes to the money, it's very much an even playing field.
In a behind-the-scenes interview with the Hollywood Reporter ahead of the Season 3 finale in April, it was revealed that The White Lotus has a pretty unconventional pay policy, whereby all actors — no matter how well-known or experienced they might be — get paid the same amount per episode.
'Everyone is treated the same on The White Lotus. 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,' explained producer David Bernad. 'It's a system we developed in the first season because there was no money to make the show.'
Multiple sources suggested that the pay for actors in Season 3 was around $40,000 per episode. And while that's still a ton of money, casting director Meredith Tucker revealed that it has deterred some stars from being on the show.
'You tell people this is what it is, and some won't do it,' she said. '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.'
When this interview came out, the pay system was widely praised by fans who suggested that it's the key to making 'a good ensemble show' and avoiding unnecessary conflict between the actors. And now, one of the Season 3 stars has weighed in.
Speaking in a new interview with Vulture, Jason Isaacs, who played the troubled Tim Ratliff, confirmed that he and his costars were, in fact, paid $40,000 per episode, calling it 'a very low price' for such a wildly successful show.
'I didn't know that was public knowledge. That's absolutely true,' he said. '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.'
Thanks to his portrayal of Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie franchise, Jason was probably one of the better-known actors in the Season 3 cast lineup when it was first announced. Despite this, he was OK with getting paid the same as the younger and less experienced stars in the cast, like Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola, who played his kids.
'Do I mind that I wasn't paid more than other people? I never work for money,' he said, before giving some insight into his personal finances. '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.'
You know what, Jason, I love your attitude. You can find the full Vulture interview here.
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