For anyone with a 'regular' job, minimum wage is a very real barrier to living a decent life somewhere above the poverty line. But the argument in favor of a higher minimum wage — say, $15 an hour — doesn't apply to every industry, especially for people not working in conventional jobs.
Acting, for example, is a pretty unique gig. The pay can vary wildly, depending on an actor or actress's background, experience level, past projects, how in-demand they are in terms of projects but also how much they're sought after by fans, how successful the show or movie franchise is, and tons of other factors.
For example, the cast of 'Friends' wound up earning around $1 million per episode each by the last few seasons. Plus, all six 'Friends' still receive royalties today as part of their contracts.
Of course, racial and gender issues also play a part in actor pay, with many women — like Reese Witherspoon and Ellen Pompeo — lamenting the lack of pay parity. It's not so much about how much the pay is, it's about how fair it is when it comes to what male leads make versus female leads.
In fact, Ellen only started making mega-cash after Patrick Dempsey left 'Grey's,' and she's reluctant to ditch the show now in part since her pay is finally at the level she feels entitled to (and TBH, she is entitled to it!).
But then there are stories like that of Hilary Swank, who accepted a job for only a few thousand dollars at the start of her career. Especially when actors fully commit to a role and transform their literal bodies for it — as many are apt to do — it's probably a nice idea to guarantee them some decent cash for the inconvenience.
So, is there a minimum wage for actors? Technically, there is — but only if an actor is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Essentially, the Screen Actors Guild formed to protect actors from being exploited with [terrible] multi-year contracts with big movie franchises.
Most of those early contracts put restrictions on actors' pay, but also on their personal and private lives. So, SAG formed as a labor union for actors.
Wrapbook explains — from a hiring director or producer's perspective — that hiring SAG actors can be a good deal, but there are rules involved.
Anyway, there are basic, minimum rates for SAG actors depending on project type and length. For example, a series regular for a 1/2-hour program must earn $3,488 per week if they appear in every episode of a 13-episode series.
For a movie with a budget of $2.5 million or more, actors must be paid $1,005 per day for their time. Oh, and that's before the studio shells out for benefits and other perks of the SAG package.
While fans know that some actors easily make upwards of $5M per film, a salary of roughly $261,000 per year for a five-day workweek doesn't sound too terrible for "minimum wage."