Breaking Bad may have earned its reputation as one of the greatest television shows, but its success wasn’t financially rewarding for all its actors. Looking back on the early years of the Netflix show, actor RJ Mitte, aka Walter White Jr., highlighted the show’s struggles. Even success on streaming platforms had little impact on actors’ earnings. Here’s what Mitte had to say about the whole situation.
Breaking Bad actor RJ Mitte said the show wasn’t “lucrative”
In a recent podcast appearance, RJ Mitte said he wasn’t paid enough despite the massive success of Breaking Bad. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age three, the actor revealed it was his first speaking job for which he earned SAG minimum. It’s the lowest daily or weekly wage mandated by SAG-AFTRA. “Breaking Bad was not very lucrative…like every season, we were told that we were canceled,” Mitte said.
“We just did not have the viewership until streaming…that was our big moment, when streaming came in and people binge-viewed Breaking Bad. But up until that point, it was a struggle every year,” he added. Moreover, Mitte revealed how the show’s creator and co-writer, Vince Gilligan, and his team struggled to avoid getting shelved by AMC.
And even when success came through streaming platforms, the financial situation remained unchanged for the show’s actors, especially older actors. It’s because they barely received the residuals. “That’s been a big issue over the past decade in our industry, especially with older actors,” he said. “You don’t really get your residuals…once you get older, your residuals are pretty much what keeps your insurance alive, like once you can’t work anymore.”
In Mitte’s view, the popularity explosion on streaming platforms benefits networks and not artists. While it does give them visibility, it doesn’t automatically translate into high earnings. For instance, Breaking Bad, released in 2008, gained massive viewership on Netflix around 2011. It only increased when later seasons were added to the streaming giant. And yet, actors received only one-time payments in compensation for multiple years.
While Mitte didn’t explicitly attack the show, his comments hint at underlying frustrations about how the shift to streaming couldn’t improve the long-term financial stability of actors. Do you think the Breaking Bad cast dealt wrongfully in matters of money? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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