How Friends cast still make staggering amount of money from show every year
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Gerald Weinman/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
It’s been 22 years since we saw the cast of Friends leave Monica’s beloved apartment for the final time. Filming may have stopped, however, the money hasn't.
When the series first premiered in 1994, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer were reportedly being paid $22,500-per-episode.
However, as the series rapidly grew in popularity, by 2002, the cast were reportedly earning a whopping $1 million per episode.
Now, over two decades on, it’s been reported that the cast are still receiving $20 million a year in residuals - which was recently seemingly confirmed by Phoebe star, Lisa Kudrow.
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When asked why they earn so much money by The Times earlier this month, the 62-year-old laughed: “Because Phoebe Buffay was so great?”
Of course, that is one of the reasons the actors are still doing so well to this day, but lets get into the technicalities.
Why do actors still get paid after they stop working on the shows? Well, long after the actors take their final bow, money continues to flow into their accounts, due to hefty residuals.
For those who aren’t too familiar with the word, residuals are payments made to the cast and crew as compensation when a TV show, or film, is reused on cable re-runs, streaming platforms or DVD sales.
How much actors get is calculated on rules set by the unions, including SAG-AFTRA and the WGA.
Speaking to the LA Times Joshua Edwards, a partner and entertainment lawyer at Fox Rothschild LLP said: “If a title is something that has a long lifetime and is continually licensed over and over again to different platforms, then that actor or writer should continue to benefit.”
A report by USA Today claimed that Friends generates $1 billion a year for Warner Bros - with the six main stars reportedly agreeing to a 2% deal.
Friends originally aired on NBC, and has since been available on a number of streaming platforms including Netflix. In 2018, it was reported that the streaming site paid $100 million to keep on the platform for a year. Here, creators are able to negotiate a profit participation.
Despite the millions of dollars they’re still making from Friends, the main characters have continued to appear on the big, and small screens - racking up much more in their bank accounts.
Not a bad day in the office!