Mandy Moore is revealing she’s received checks for as little as a penny to 81 cents for residual “This Is Us” streaming payments.
Moore, who was picketing with other actors as part of the ongoing actors’ strike Tuesday, told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview that she “was talking with my business manager who said he’s received a residual for a penny and two pennies.”
The low payments, she said, come as a result of a streaming deal with Hulu. “The residual issue is a huge issue,” Moore said.
The NBC family drama, in which Moore led the cast as matriarch Rebecca Pearson for six seasons, was produced by 20th Century Fox, which is owned by Disney.
USA TODAY has reached out to Disney for comment.
“We’re in incredibly fortunate positions as working actors having been on shows that found tremendous success in one way or another … but many actors in our position for years before us were able to live off of residuals or at least pay their bills,” Moore said.
Moore took to Instagram Wednesday, sharing a screenshot of a story mentioning her comments and wrote that she wanted to clarify.
“Striking isn’t fun. No one hoped it would come to this and I know everyone involved is hopeful for a resolution soon so folks can get back to work,” Moore wrote, adding that the trickle-down impact has already been devastating.
“There are plenty of issues that are gumming up the wheels (transparency with data, wage increases, residuals, ai, etc…) and I spoke about one that happened to be top of my mind because of a conversation I’d been having while picketing,” she wrote, acknowledging the “rarified position” she has as a result of her career, adding she doesn’t assume to be in that place always.
“Ours is a fickle industry and in my 20+ years of being a performer, my career has ebbed and flowed,” Moore continued. “I’ve had very lean years where I couldn’t get a job and those are precisely the moments when in years past, actors could rely on residuals from their past work to help them get by. The world and business have changed and I’m hoping we can find a meaningful solution moving forward.”
SAG-AFTRA officially went on strike at midnight Thursday. Striking screen actors began picketing alongside writers in New York and Los Angeles on Friday in what has become the biggest Hollywood labor fight in decades.
Hollywood writers, who have been on strike since May 2, are holding out for improved payments amid less-than-lucrative streaming deals, and there’s the looming threat of artificial intelligence taking away jobs. Actors are also looking for better pay deals, especially from streaming services such as Netflix.
Katie Lowes, who was picketing with Moore and starred in ABC’s political drama “Scandal” as Quinn Perkins for seven seasons, told The Hollywood Reporter that she also has not received any real income from residuals.
“If you are someone who has been fortunate enough in our positions to do 120-plus episodes of a successful show in previous years — 10, 15, 20 years ago — that re-airing would be the thing that could sustain you on years where I did this smaller project or I wanted to go do a play or you have kids and you have a family to provide for,” Lowes said. “And that just not a reality anymore. The entire model has changed.”
Contributing: Kelly Lawler and Marco della Cava, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
