Mandy Moore has admitted that she received paychecks for less than $1 for her role on "This Is Us" after it went to a streaming platform.
The actor made the revelation while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about her concerns over the issue of residuals, which is the amount actors are paid whenever their films or TV shows are replayed.
"The residual issue is a huge issue," Moore explained. "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 explained that when it came to her work on the successful NBC series, in which she starred as the matriarch for six seasons, she received "very tiny, like 81-cent checks" for the show's streaming deal with Hulu.
"I was talking with my business manager who said he's received a residual for a penny and two pennies," she added.
Moore was speaking from the picket line Tuesday where hundreds of other actors had gathered as part of the SAG-AFTRA strike against Hollywood's streamers and studios. She was joined by former "Scandal" star Katie Lowes, who also spoke called for a more equitable division of 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 reairing 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 is just not a reality anymore. The entire model has changed."
Moore's remarks align with the sentiments expressed by SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who have been on strike since May 2. Both unions argue that the evolving landscape of streaming platforms warrants fairer compensation, Today noted.
Both unions are also fighting for fairer deals and contracts and provisions about artificial intelligence.