$56,903/year:
According to ZipRecruiter, in 2024, the average actor salary is $56,903, with a range from $15,500 to $139,500. Unless they're employed regularly on a television show, actors tend to work on a project-by-project basis, which means they may not work at all for some years.
This is crazy money for just acting!
The actors who become stars of hit shows and movies make a ton of money but most actors are trying to get their big break while working side jobs. When an actor makes it onto a huge show, they have a chance to get a good salary plus residuals. Residuals are payments made to an actor based on the number of re-runs of the show. The actors unions have been striking to get better deals over the years and the recent strike involved a demand for residuals from streaming companies.
https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/residuals/history-residuals#:~:text=By%20the%20mid-1950s%2C%20both,were%20licensed%20to%20television%20networks.
Aaron Paul didn't receive residuals for all the viewings of Breaking Bad on Netflix and I watched Breaking Bad three times.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/06/entertainment/aaron-paul-breaking-bad-residuals-netflix/index.html
Creators of a hit show can get royalties from re-runs and that can be more lucrative.
https://www.distractify.com/p/how-much-does-the-seinfeld-cast-make-for-reruns
The cast of Friends gets around $20M annually from residuals.
https://parade.com/1212498/jessicasager/friends-cast-salaries/
Actor Johnny Wactor was recently shot dead in the street after his shift at a bar ended. He had a few roles but he didn't get that big break.
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/general-hospital-actor-johnny-wactor-dies-37-after/story?id=110579838
Some actors can collect fees for appearances, endorsements, autographs and even social media sites like Cameo.
I would imagine a walk on part on a TV show would pay over 1 million bucks easy!
sharethe figures must be highly skewed , due to vast amounts of "wannabees"