Heading into its fifth season, cast members of the procedural Fox drama 9-1-1 have obtained significant raises in their salaries, making lead actress Angela Bassett among the highest paid television actors and highest paid actress of color on a broadcast drama series. Bassett, who plays Athena on the show, will be paid to the tune of a reported $450,000+ per episode.
The bump in salary compensates Bassett for her contributions to the series’ development, executive producer credits for both 9-1-1 and spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star, along with the experience she brings from her heavily credentialed career, that includes director credits and Academy Award and Emmy nominations.
Bassett’s new salary places her in the ranks of Viola Davis who reportedly edge her way from $250,000 per episode on How to Get Away With Murder to an upward pay of $450,000 by the time the series came to an end. On another Shonda Rhimes and ABC collaboration, Grey’s Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo received around $575,000 per episode. Kerry Washington started off at $80,000 per episode on Scandal, later earning $250,000 per episode after the show’s success. Towards the end of their show runs, Kaley Cuoco received $900,000 per episode on The Big Bang Theory, while Sofia Vergara earned $500,000 on Modern Family, But network television pay has nothing on the salaries from streaming series.
Reese Witherspoon, who recently sold a majority stake in her content creation company Hello Sunshine for $900 million, makes $2 million per episode, alongside co-star Jennifer Aniston on the Apple TV+ and Hello Sunshine production The Morning Show. On another Witherspoon-starring series Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu, co-star Washington earns $1 million per episode.
Bassett wasn’t the only cast member of 9-1-1 to receive an increase in salary. Peter Krause will earn about $300,000 per episode, with Jennifer Love Hewitt earning a little bit lower than him. Rockmond Dunbar, Kenneth Choi, Aisha Hinds, and Ryan Guzman are reportedly receiving $80,000 per episode — that’s a 25% increase from what they were being paid in previous seasons.
A tidbit of controversy surrounds the increase of Oliver Stark’s pay on the show. Considered a newbie in comparison to his co-stars, Stark received an accumulative raise in compensation of 130% over the past year, according to Deadline. The bump enabled Stark to be paid on the same level of Dunbar, Choi, Hinds, and Guzman.
