why have movie actors always been paid so much? Even back in the silent film era they were making comparatively a fortune
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Basically, because they are worth the money. Even before there were movies, stage actors got paid high salaries, because people really wanted to see those people. One early actress was known as the ‘Biograph Girl,’ because her bosses didn’t want the competition to find her name and hire her away. This is one reason producers like franchises so much. People are going to see the new Star Wars movie regardless of who stars in it. Same with James Bond or X-Men.
Movies make a lot of money. They have ever since the silent film days. The actors who star in those films believe they deserve to get paid well as a result, since the movie often wouldn’t make as much money if they weren’t starring in it. So they negotiate contracts with movie producers to get them paid well, and the producers do it, knowing that they make more money when they have popular actors in those roles.
These folks have to remember scripts, prepare months at a time with months of production, venue appearances, celeb life. Those who are constant must go nonstop. A lot of people wanna be entertainers till you think about what it takes. I’m good.
The sum you read associated with an actor is actually the total amount that gets divided among the actor’s supporters- agent, management, assistants, various technical coaches, hair and make-up, etc.
The actor’s fees also include the work on the film’s promotional circuit where the actor spends weeks before and after production touring media outlets to promote the film. This in itself is a very demanding job especially if film is internationally marketed
Sometimes, as is now becoming the norm with streaming, an actor signs to a project deal with percentage of the box office takings and sales, even the merchandise of their likeness.
It’s lucrative for that one actor but not all of that money you read about is theirs alone.
They’re worth it, since the actor draws the audience almost automatically if they’re popular.
But also competition… multiple movies want the same actor, but they can’t do that many, so if you want the popular actor, you’ve got to outbid the other movies.
People only make $5 million if someone else was willing to pay $4.9 million.
Most performers – not just movie actors – have a very extreme pay range. The top most popular performers make tons of money, while the bottom 90% don’t make enough to live on.
A few stars are making a fortune. But there are a million other struggling actors who are hardly making any money at all. Most of them are working other jobs, hoping to get their big break in film someday.
Same with musicians – for every rich pop star, there are thousands of other excellent musicians who perform at their local bar a couple of nights a week and barely make any money at all. There are millions and millions of artists on Spotify who have only a few hundred listens.
Athletes too! The best athletes for the most famous sports make bank. Anyone who’s not quite as good is lucky to make any money at all.
That’s just the nature of many human activities where the people with the most talent get all of the attention.
This is largely because:
1) There is a [“Winner take all” effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner-take-all_market) for entertainment. Part of this effect is created by the talent of the actor, part of it is because popularity is a positive feedback loop (audiences prefer watching famous actors, even if acting talent is the same).
2) The value of an actor continues to increase (through no additional effort on their part) as the audience for the average movie increases. (the nature of the medium is a multiplier on their earnings)
Economies of scale… a couple of movie stars can sell a movie to millions of viewers in theater, millions more buyers of downloads or DVD, live diving fees for streaming services and airing on TV, etc. and movie actors are not easily replaceable… you want to see Tom Hanks or Maryl Streep specifically.
Compare that to somebody working fast food. You don’t care in the slightest who makes your McDonalds meal and no matter how good they are, they can only make so many meals in a day/week, and to sell millions of meals McDonalds needs to employ tens of thousand of employees.
Charlie Chaplin was one of the first “mega stars” who realized his box office draw and demanded a lot more money because of it. His first producer, Mack Sennett, said no, so Chaplin left and made other people (including himself) rich. Mack Sennett eventually faded into history and ever since then, stars have had the upper hand.
If you do the math between what the average movie makes in sales vs what the actors get paid it breaks down to a close percentage to what you make at your job. Don’t get me wrong they make a ton of money in a very short amount of time but considering what the movie makes, they don’t get much.
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