This Is Us was a network drama which ran from 2016 through 2022. It was a popular drama and it won big awards, like Emmys and Golden Globes. The cast collected good paychecks at the time, given that it was on a network (NBC) and it was a pretty popular hour-long drama in a network-television landscape which barely prioritizes the hour-long drama anymore. Because NBCUniversal has a minority stake in Hulu, This Is Us was given to Hulu for streaming. As we know now, the streaming companies have completely broken the residual system for actors and writers. So while Mandy Moore likely collected a good paycheck for the original run of This Is Us, she’s literally only collecting PENNIES in residuals.
This Is Us star Mandy Moore was among the hundreds of actors who took to the picket lines Tuesday as part of the SAG-AFTRA strike against Hollywood’s streamers and studios over core issues like streaming residuals. The Emmy-nominated actress spent six seasons starring as the matriarch on the Disney-produced NBC drama This Is Us and, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, says she has received checks ranging from a penny to 81 cents in return for the hit show’s streaming deal with Hulu.
“The residual issue is a huge issue,” Moore says from the Disney picket line in Burbank where she was joined by former Scandal star Katie Lowes. “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 says she received “very tiny, like 81-cent checks” for the streaming residuals for This Is Us. “I was talking with my business manager who said he’s received a residual for a penny and two pennies,” she said. Lowes added that she hasn’t received anything substantial from Disney for Scandal’s streaming deals with Netflix and, more recently, Hulu.
“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 says of the residuals model. “And that just not a reality anymore. The entire model has changed.”
All of what Mandy and Katie Lowes are saying here is 100% the truth. And it’s completely bonkers – 10-20 years ago, actors who spent YEARS as the lead (or part of an ensemble) on a network drama would be rolling in residual money, because those shows would air on cable rather than streaming. Think of TBS or TNT, cable stations like that would air those reruns and actors would get nice residual checks. It’s bonkers that Mandy Moore has only been getting paid pennies in residuals for eight years of work on a network, prime-time show.
Photos courtesy of Mandy’s IG and Avalon Red.
- Mandy Moore arrives at the 2020 NBCUniversal Winter TCA Press Tour held at The Langham Huntington Hotel on January 11, 2020 in Pasadena, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 562916351, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Xavier Collin / Avalon
