Los Angeles<\/span> \n On Friday, the SAG-AFTRA, a union representing about 160,000 Hollywood actors, officially went on strike after failing to reach a deal<\/a> with Hollywood\u2019s biggest studios.\n <\/p>\n \n That means Hollywood actors and writers are on strike simultaneously for the first time in more than 60 years, bringing most film and television productions to a halt.\n <\/p>\n \n Among other demands, actors on strike are calling for increased pay and a rethinking of residuals, which union members say has significantly diminished amid the rise of streaming services. Residuals are financial compensation paid out to actors whenever TV shows or movies they\u2019ve appeared in are replayed.\n <\/p>\n \n Here are some significant numbers:\n <\/p>\n \n The union\u2019s 160,000 members join the 11,000 Writers Guild of America members who have been striking since May<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n While many of the world\u2019s highest-paid celebrities, including Meryl Streep<\/a> and Matt Damon, have voiced their support for the strike, the concerns about higher pay and residuals affect thousands of actors who perform in hundreds of films and TV shows.\n <\/p>\n \n SAG-AFTRA\u2019s president, Fran Drescher, pushed back on the notion that all actors are wealthy, saying that a vast majority \u201care just working people just trying to make a living just trying to pay their rent, just trying to put food on the table and get their kids off to school.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cEverything that you watch, that you enjoy, that you\u2019re entertained by are scenes filled with people that are not making the big money,\u201d she added.\n <\/p>\n \n That\u2019s how much the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported<\/a> as the average pay for California actors in 2022. However, the BLS noted in the data that actors aren\u2019t paid full-time year-round due to the nature of the job.\n <\/p>\n \n Before the contract between actors and movie studios officially expired this week, SAG-AFTRA members had negotiated specific minimum rates for performers. For example, an actor who worked on a television show for one week was paid a minimum of $3,756.\n <\/p>\n \n However, Kellee Stewart, an actress who has performed for more than 20 years and has appeared on the television series \u201cAll American\u201d and \u201cBlack-ish,\u201d noted that performers traditionally don\u2019t get to take home the number that appears as their rate.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cYou don\u2019t get to keep it all when you get a paycheck,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cYou have to pay taxes, plus commissions. For me, that would include an agent, a manager, and a lawyer that negotiates your deals. Right away, when you\u2019re giving a quote for what you\u2019re going to get paid, you already know that\u2019s really going to be 35% less, give or take,\u201d she added.\n <\/p>\n \n Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson was the highest paid actor of 2022, raking in $270 million, according to Forbes\u2019 list<\/a> of highest-paid entertainers. Johnson received hefty paydays from his roles in \u201cJungle Cruise\u201d and \u201cRed Notice,\u201d but, according to Forbes, the majority of his earned income in 2022 came from his tequila brand, Teremana.\n <\/p>\n \n Tom Cruise made headlines last year for reportedly making $100 million from his deal to star in \u201cTop Gun: Maverick,\u201d for which he received a cut of ticket sales, according<\/a> to Variety.\n <\/p>\n \n On CBS\u2019 Face the Nation<\/a> Sunday, IAC Chairman Barry Diller called on top-paid actors and movie executives alike to take 25% pay cuts.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cYou have the actors union saying, \u2018How dare these 10 people who run these companies earn all this money and won\u2019t pay us?\u2019 While, if you look at it on the other side, the top 10 actors get paid more than the top 10 executives,\u201d Diller said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying either is right. Actually, everybody\u2019s probably overpaid at the top end.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The minimum amount of money a performer must take home in one year to qualify for health insurance is $26,470.\n <\/p>\n \n However, while well-known actors are paid millions of dollars to star in movies and TV shows, many members of SAG-AFTRA don\u2019t bring in enough income each year to meet the union\u2019s minimum requirement.\n <\/p>\n \n According to Shaan Sharma, an actor and SAG-AFTRA board member, just 12.7% of SAG-AFTRA members qualify for the union\u2019s health plan.\n <\/p>\n \n Actor Rod McLachlan, who has appeared in television shows such as \u201cBlue Bloods,\u201d said it\u2019s \u201ca constant struggle\u201d to meet the health insurance threshold.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf you think about it, $26,000 isn\u2019t a middle-class wage,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe thing about the life of an actor is that you have good years and bad years,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n \n Due to the unpredictable nature of TV acting and the competitive nature of landing roles, actors traditionally rely on residual payments, paid out when films or movies are replayed, as a form of steady income when work is hard to come by.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf you were in a popular episode of a popular show, the income streams could last for quite some time. You have almost 18 months on one level or another where you are receiving income that was significant enough to help you until the next time you did a network show,\u201d McLachlan said.\n <\/p>\n \n Actors say that the calculation around residuals has changed. As more shows and movies have moved to streaming services, where it isn\u2019t always clear how often content is replayed, actors say they\u2019re making significantly less money.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe residuals that I get when it\u2019s on network television versus what I would get on Netflix are night and day,\u201d Stewart said. <\/strong> <\/strong>\n <\/p>\n \n On Twitter, Stewart shared a screengrab of five residual payments totaling 13 cents <\/strong>from replays on streaming services.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere\u2019s not just a difference between traditional residual television and streaming; they\u2019re not even in the same conversation,\u201d she told celebrity.land.\n <\/p>\n \n On Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said striking actors\u2019 and writers\u2019 demands are \u201cjust not realistic.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey are adding to a set of challenges that this business is already facing, that is quite frankly, very disruptive,\u201d he told CNBC.\n <\/p>\n \n When Iger rejoined Disney as CEO in November 2022, he agreed to an annual base salary of $1 million with a potential annual bonus of $2 million. The agreement also includes stock awards from Disney totaling $25 million.\n <\/p>\n
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