HBO’s The White Lotus arguably one of the most acclaimed and culturally relevant TV shows of the last decade.
The anthology series has not only been a commercial hit and lauded by critics, it’s also been responsible for catapulting its cast to the top of Tinseltown.
Veterans like Jennifer Coolidge and Parker Posey completely revived their careers thanks to the Mike White series, while international stars like Sabrina Impacciatore and Aimee Lou Wood used the show to crack Hollywood.
So why aren’t more A-listers clamoring for roles on The White Lotus?
The main reason is the ‘low’ salary of just $40,000 per episode, which is given to each main character – regardless of how famous they are.
One Hollywood agent who spoke to DailyMail.com said that the salary is so low that most big name actors would actually lose money filming a season of the HBO show.
‘Just say that the actor earns roughly $300,000 for the season, that’s before taxes, then they have to pay their team, like their manager and agent,’ the source said.
‘They’re not left with much in the end, then you have to factor in exactly how much money they’re missing out on while shooting the show for months,’ they continued.
It’s the most popular show on television, but A-listers are turning down The White Lotus due to its low salary and long filming schedule
Season two of The White Lotus took six months to film, while season three took even longer at seven months.
‘Not only are they on set for half the year, they’re also on location in some random part of the world. Italy, Thailand… it’s not like filming in Los Angeles where they can easily come and go to fulfill other commitments,’ the agent said.
‘I’ve had to advise some big clients not to do the show for these reasons.
‘They could be taking home several million by doing a movie that might only take two or three months to shoot instead of spending six months doing The White Lotus for pennies,’ they continued.
Outside of acting projects, there’s also the issue of missing out on lucrative brand deals.
‘Every actor has commercial brand deals, it’s where most of their money is made these days,’ they explained.
‘If I sign a client up to represent a major brand, I can’t have them stuck on set in Thailand when there’s promotional commitments in the US as part of their contract,’ they added.
Aimee Lou Wood was already famous in the UK but finally able to break into Hollywood thanks to her role on season three of The White Lotus
One Hollywood agent said that most A-listers would actually lose money filming a season of the show for six months for a low salary
However, the agent did say that things may be shifting as The White Lotus begins to benefit from more commercial tie-ins.
‘The only exception is some of the big money brand deals that the cast are starting to pull in now,’ they said.
‘Parker Posey did a GAP campaign, Theo James is working with Dolce & Gabbana.
‘There’s certainly an argument to be made that The White Lotus can drive up a star’s value for brands, but I still think this applies more to B-level talent,’ they continued.
‘A-listers can already command a huge fee, so I don’t think that The White Lotus can boost their value enough to offset any losses from filming.’
In April, it was revealed that three-time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson had turned down the third season of The White Lotus.
While the actor claimed that the filming schedule clashed with a family vacation, there was speculation that the real reason for knocking it back was due to the salary.
The White Lotus revived Jennifer Coolidge’s career, but most A-listers are already so successful that they don’t need the HBO show to give them a boost
Three-time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson turned down the third season of The White Lotus amid rumors that he didn’t want to accept the low salary
Jason Isaacs, who appears in the third season of the HBO series as wealthy businessman Timothy Ratliff, revealed just how much he and his castmates were paid per episode.
‘That’s absolutely true,’ he told Vulture, confirming that they earned $40,000 per episode.
‘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,’ he continued.
‘But compared to what people normally get paid for big television shows, that’s a very low price.’
Still, Isaacs admitted he was just as excited as fellow cast members — like Patrick Schwarzenegger and Parker Posey — to join the buzz-worthy series.
‘But the fact is, we would have paid to be in it. We probably would have given a body part.’
Isaacs was asked whether, given his long resume, he had any complicated feelings about earning the same as less-experienced actors like Schwarzenegger.
He replied, ‘Do I mind that I wasn’t paid more than other people? I never work for money. I mean, 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.’
