The Big Bang Theory Stars Just Took a Pay Cut for a Totally Noble (and Infuriating) Reason
Hollywood isn’t the most balanced and fair place on Earth — just ask Emma Stone, who says that directors have taken her ideas and given them to her male co-stars — but Kaley Cuoco and the stars of The Big Bang Theory are doing their best to fix things in their own backyard (or rather, on their own set) by taking a pay cut for a totally noble AND infuriating reason.
The sitch was initially sparked by the fact that despite Mayim Bialik (who plays Amy) and Melissa Rauch (who plays Bernadette) being a huge part of the cast for years now, the pair each only makes 20 percent of what the rest of the cast makes (or, in other terms, around $200,000 per episode compared to the million per episode each of the original five cast members makes).
Granted, the others are the lead characters, but without Amy and Bernadette, the current storylines would fall apart pretty darn fast and the show’s future would undeniably be in doubt. That’s where things sat as the execs behind the scenes were aiming to renew the super popular series for another two seasons.
With the pay of the actresses in question, Kaley Cuoco, along with Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar, and Simon Helberg, have all stepped in to try to make things right. Each has agreed to take a whopping $100,000 cut, which they will put toward their co-stars’ pay.
If Bialik and Rauch split the amount equally, each would now be making almost $450,000 per episode (which would be $21+ million for the deal that would span 48-episodes and two years). Not bad at all!
What do you think about the fact that The Big Bang Theory stars took a pay cut to make sure their co-stars make more? Let us know @BritandCo!
(h/t Variety; photos via Albert L. Ortega/Getty, CBS)
