Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan and Jon Huertas each sought pay raises last summer ahead of filming the sixth and final season, reports Deadline. "The request, based on the series’ success, was initially met with resistance by 20th Television and NBC," reports Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "Original cast members Ventimiglia, Moore, Brown, Metz, Hartley, Watson and Sullivan previously negotiated big raises after Season 2 when the actors, who had started at different compensation levels, all went up to $250,000 an episode. They have maintained parity ever since. I hear This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman stepped in to back the actors in their quest for more money. 20th TV and NBC ultimately agreed to a $2 million cash bonus for each of the seven original cast members and a $1 million bonus for fellow series regular Huertas, who started as a recurring in Season 1 before being promoted to a regular in Season 2. I hear that the original cast members joined Huertas in requesting parity for him, lobbying with the studio and network for his bonus to match theirs. The effort was unsuccessful. Accounts of what happened next differ but I hear that at least some — and possibly all — of the Original 7 offered to pool together a portion of their own bonuses and give it to Huertas so he could achieve parity with them." Andreeva reports that Huertas ultimately declined the offer.
TOPICS: This Is Us, NBC, Chris Sullivan, Chrissy Metz, Dan Fogelman, Jon Huertas, Justin Hartley, Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown, Susan Kelechi Watson, TV Salaries