I think most of us expect prominent TV actors to be bringing in plenty of moolah, but the salaries of some of them may surprise you. Recently, Taryn Manning revealed that she doesn’t make nearly as much money from Netflix’s Orange is the New Black as you might guess. The actress recently revealed that she shoots the series in New York and maintains her home in Los Angeles while shooting is accomplished. Between the two high costs of housing, there isn’t a lot left over for fun purchases.
I don’t really profit when it’s all said and done. It's not like because we’re on this hit show that we’re rolling in dough.
Granted, there are always ways to save money. While the actress obviously has to be in New York in order to keep the role on OITNB, she could theoretically dispense of her Los Angeles home if she really wanted to. I’m not advocating she sell her house, I’m just saying that it doesn’t sound as if she needs to be too concerned about making her rent anytime soon. Instead, what she shared with the Huffington Post makes it seem as if she doesn’t have the kind of overall income that allows her to travel whenever she wants or spend money frivolously, which is how most of us live our lives, anyway.
We know super popular actresses and actors have a lot of leverage on contracts and can end up making the kind of wild money I mentioned before. The cast of Friends famously made $1 million per episode toward the end of the show’s run, and the cast of The Big Bang Theory recently negotiated for the same salary on the series, with lesser but still sizeable raises going to characters like Howard and Raj. So, big salaries do happen, but apparently not on Netflix shows with major ensemble casts.
It probably should be noted that Taryn Manning’s Orange Is The New Black character, Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett, isn’t the number one lead on that show. The series revolves around Piper Chapman, with a ton of other inmates also getting side stories on the series, including Pennsatucky, whose hypocritical views and occasionally violent nature have made her an unpopular inmate. While we’ve seen plenty of backstory for the character on the show and she lots of screentime, she isn’t exactly a Sheldon or a Rachel, if you get my meaning.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Netflix’s programming is often similar to cable and subscription programming, in which actors and actresses are only contracted for a few episodes instead of a full 22-episode order. Since Orange is the New Black only makes 13 episodes each season, you’d expect the characters to get paid less than those on primetime network television. (This is to say nothing about the number of people watching Netflix shows, as ratings often affect network TV salaries.)
So, while she seems to make a tidy fund for Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, it’s clear Manning’s not raking in millions each season. That hasn’t stopped her from crushing at the role, however. Orange is the New Black is expected to return to the schedule for Season 4 in 2016. Here’s what we know about the new episodes.
