$250,000 an Episode

This is Angus T. Jones. Although this isn’t a recent picture, you probably recognize the 16-year-old’s slack jaw, lifeless eyes, and pudgy frame from “Two and a Half Men,” where his halfhearted recitation of lines is only believable because his character is a two-dimensional half-wit.

He makes $250,000 an episode. Two hundred. And fifty. Thouuuuuuuuuuuusand dollars. PER EPISODE. ONE MILLION DOLLARS every four episodes.

“But let’s think about the commissions given out once they get that pot of gold: Ten percent goes to the agent; 10-15 percent goes to the manager and 15 percent goes to the Coogan Account,” [Hollywood talent agent Jackie Lewis] says, alluding to the trust fund that by California state law must be established for underage actors and that they cannot touch until they’re 21.

“And then there’s taxes,” she adds. “So even if a kid is making $25,000 a week, he or she may see only 30 or 40 percent of that money.” Even on hit shows on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, young actors make relatively modest salaries — with the exception of Jones. [NY Post]

Oh, Hollywood. Don’t ever change the space aliens controlling your version of reality. “So even if a child is making $100,000 a month (or 20 times what someone with a $60K salary makes), that child is only getting 30 or 40 thousand dollars a month, which is probably what the average teenager gets for allowance in America anyway, right?”