The 1990s sitcom, FRIENDS starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer was a great success in television history. It has continued to amass global attention years after its release all due to the amazing plot, great cast, and numerous memories they all beaded along their journey.
Given that all the actors are now well-established in the industry, thinking back to the time when they were just a group of friends who won our hearts was what we remember still now. Even their salary for the first episode might surprise the fans.
Jennifer Aniston’s Salary in The First Episode of FRIENDS
Jennifer Aniston has already been a rising actress before gaining global stardom with her sitcom show, FRIENDS. She portrayed the role of Rachel Green, which went on to become one of television’s favorite female characters ever.
Kicking off her acting journey from a young age, she booked several roles in the television industry.
After getting almost no good results from her four unsuccessful TV series, she had doubts about her career prospects until the head of NBC Entertainment, Warren Littlefield encouraged her to continue acting and helped cast her in the globally popular sitcom.
She kicked off her FRIENDS journey with a $22,500 per episode salary in season 1. But, it was rumored that she had earned a salary bump of around $40,000 per episode by season 2 due to her love story with Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer.
By season 3, she renegotiated her salary to $75,000 per episode. In the end, she bagged a $1 million per episode cheque in the season finale. This made her among the highest-paid women in television. She continues to hold the title due to her massive fortune of $320 million.
Other FRIENDS Casts’ Salary for The First Episode
At the end of the famous sitcom, the ensemble cast negotiated their salaries altogether to get equally paid for their roles or else they would all walk away. Thanks to their amazing bonding, they were successful in amassing their crazy $1 million-per-episode pay deals.
But the fun fact is, their journey started with the same range of salaries. Schwimmer, who played the love interest of the Murder Mystery actress had an initial paycheck of $22,500 per episode. As for Monica Geller actor, Courtney Cox, she got the same pay as her on-screen brother. Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay, Matthew Perry who was Chandler Bing, and Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani all got the same paycheck of $22,500 per episode.
The iconic show remains close to fans’ hearts as it not only gave them years worth of memories but also memorable characters which will forever be classic.
FRIENDS is available on HBO Max.
Source: Business Insider
