Without even getting into factors like gender or race, actor salaries vary widely in Hollywood (and across the world). Beyond the amount a star (or set of stars) is willing to negotiate for, there are also a long list of additional considerations to make before pay is set in stone.
Things like the show's budget, the actor or actress's level of experience, and even variables such as who's in charge of the project or whether the cast has to stick to a book-based script can impact the bottom line per actor.
Fortunately, for Kerry Washington, when it came to 'Little Fires Everywhere,' she was on set with a total dream team. The 2020 show — which only spanned eight episodes, on purpose — featured all female producers, was based on a book by a woman who was involved in the show's production (though the Hulu show is a bit different than the book), had a culturally diverse cast, and was heavily influenced by Reese Witherspoon.
Reese was the co-lead of the series alongside Kerry, and as Hollywood Reporter confirmed, Reese has long been a proponent for strong female leads, fair pay for all actors, and diversifying her income streams beyond stereotypical industry limitations. Seriously, she's Elle Woods personified. Except with less pink.
Basically, the perfect storm meant that Kerry Washington's earnings on 'Little Fires' would be equitable and that the project was practically guaranteed to be amazing. But enough about Reese and her accomplishments. Kerry's a force in her own right, and fortunately, her pay for 'Fires' reflects that.
The hard figures are tough to come by, but StyleCaster notes that estimates for Washington's pay average around $1.1 million per episode. That means about $7.7 million for the whole project, which makes sense since Kerry's reported net worth saw a jump of over five million between 2019 and 2020 (when the show came out).
Fans will recall that though Kerry rocked it on 'Scandal' for six years as Olivia Pope, her initial salary wasn't that impressive, at least in terms of Hollywood income. StyleCaster says Kerry made about $250K per episode by the end of the series.
Washington also wound up with executive producer credits later in the show's run, which led to an income boost, suggests CheatSheet. Kerry's original pay: $80K per episode. It's hard to compare apples to oranges in terms of actor pay depending on how successful a show is, where it airs, and other factors. But it seems like that's a bit of a slight on Kerry, who was the lead and is also a powerhouse actress who's been in the industry a long time.
Which makes it even better that partnering with Reese bumped her into the $1M club for per-episode earnings. Sure, Kerry's been fighting against racial inequality for decades, but the income disparities are a related issue that are sometimes hard to highlight. This time, though, someone else saw Kerry's worth and ensured she was paid prime for it.