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September 23, 2003
"West Wing" Rewards Talent
by Lia Haberman
E!Online
What a difference an Emmy makes.
Fresh on the heels of their Sunday night victory, four West Wing cast members have received whopping salary raises--ending four months of protracted negotiations.
Variety claims the salary hikes for Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and John Spencer will place them among the highest-paid actors working in TV drama.
All this and the thesps didn't even have to call in sick or score their own personal Emmys--Janney was a Best Actress nominee while costars Whitford and Spencer were both up for the Supporting Actor category, but none won.
While numbers are not being released, the actors were said to be seeking a raise from $90,000 to $150,000 per episode, or about a third of what their commander-in-chief, Martin Sheen, reportedly pulls in per episode of the NBC drama.
No word on how close they got to $150k--neither NBC nor producer Warner Bros. would comment Tuesday on the actors' salaries--but as part of their reputed big-bucks deal the thesps have agreed to extend their contracts an extra year, through a potential eighth season in 2006-07.
The peaceful renegotiations are a far cry from the sick days and walkouts experienced on the set of fellow Emmy favorite Everybody Loves Raymond and not even close to what the Oval Office quartet pulled two years ago when they strong-armed the studio into doubling their respective paychecks by not showing up for work.
This time around, the foursome did show up for taping on the show's fifth season, they simply refused to do any publicity promoting the upcoming season.
But with the forced defections of the show's creator Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme, and the departure of fellow star Rob Lowe following a salary dispute, executive producer John Wells was apparently a major force in ensuring a satisfactory resolution between the two sides.
Posted by Jo at September 23, 2003 05:19 PM