Kenan Thompson Says ‘You Gotta Pay Your Dues’ After Pete Davidson Reveals ‘SNL’ Starting Salary Was $3,000 per Episode

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/kenan-thompson-snl-starting-salary-1236241255/

30 comments

  1. > “It’s pretty notorious that it’s more so about having the job than getting paid for the job,” Thomspon, who declined to give specific salary numbers, told Variety at the American Museum of Natural History gala on Thursday night. “You gotta pay your dues a little bit, yeah.”

  2. Pete just needed to put in his time, Kenan’s up to $3700 an episode now

  3. I mean I understand the doors those jobs can open, but that’s well below a living wage in NYC, and there’s really no excuse for that, especially considering the demands of being a part of this show.

    I just looked up jobs around Rockefeller Center and there are line cooks making similar money.

  4. To a degree it is true that you get paid in exposure.  Many movies and movie careers where born out of SNL.

  5. Says the longest running castmate who now makes between $2,000,000-$3,000,000 per year…

    Anyone making that amount of money per year let alone has other projects, is doing just fine.

    Maybe you’re not the guy to talk about this.

  8. $3000 a week to play the “stoner type” in a single sketch is pretty crazy. (Not to mention all the perks that come with the job)

    Sign me up.

  10. Actors on the last show I worked on, 7/8 on the callsheet, were making at least 150k per episode. This is insanity, SNL makes a lot of money.

  11. The only people who say “you’ve gotta pay your dues” are the people who already suffered the dues and think everyone should because that’s what they had to go through. No, you shouldn’t be paid pennies – doing all the work from writing and acting on the show – while rich producers are the ones who reap all the benefits. The cast member have to write the frickin show!

  12. Is this supposed to be bad? 3,000 an episode you’d be making over 60k a year. That’s a pretty great starting salary for a sketch comic. What are the writers who aren’t cast members getting?

  13. Hey if you’re dating girls like Kim Kardashian, I guess $3k is just dinner

  14. Kenan: no I mean literally. In addition to the poor salary, we have to pay a monthly cast member fee.

  15. Starting at $3,000 per episode is not bad at all. I doubt they’re putting in 40/hours. They can easily supplement their income with comedy shows and the like

  17. I said on another post, SNL is a launching pad for people, not the way they strike gold. If they’re good, they get other shows and movies/etc. Not everyone does and that’s just how the cookie crumbles but yeah, it’s like your first job…entry level…not making the big bucks yet until you get promoted. Everyone these days wants to get paid like they’re top tier talent and that’s not how the entertainment business works.

  20. People here in the comments don’t seem to understand how high the cost of living is in NY.

    3k a week is well below what someone can comfortably live on in that city. And if you’re gonna reach the level of actually getting on an institution like SNL — you should be done paying dues.

  21. Well the first time he popped up on my screen, I definitely thought a confused, visibly stoned, audience member had wandered up on stage and started to mumble incoherently, so… maybe 3k wasn’t a bad deal.

  22. 3k a week 20+ weeks a year. More than most people make. I’ve watched enough 30 Rock to know the the hours really suck but it led to him nailing Kate Beckinsale (and Kim K and Arianna Grande, who I know isn’t a lot of people’s cup of tea). Not to mention starring in a Judd Apatow film and having your own TV while bringing the legendary, Academy Award winning Joe godamn Pesci out of retirement.

    Sick of this kid. And yes I’m extremely jealous.

  23. Paying your dues is sleeping on couches and making $300 a week at a part time job while working for Second City for free, or spending years going to open mics and barking on street corners.

    Getting on SNL should be considered “making it”.

    This is probably one of the many reason why SNL has been considered a toxic place and entirely soul-sucking. They don’t treat each other as equals.

  25. I mean its not like what they did was particularly hard, at least for me. I would totally take 3 k for like a night of doing funny skitz with people. Way easier than my last job and paid better also seems shorter.

  27. I think paying your dues is how you get ON SNL.
    Thompson also said He could play anything and Shane Gillis wouldn’t have been good on SNL. Fuck him.

  28. They want work. It pays What it pays. Why do we care. If the actor cares go elsewhere. The actor is the employee. He/she chose to take the gig. Get famous make more.

  29. That wage is still more than half of the population earns, and the work is probably more fun than what most of us do for work. I think it’s a pretty good gig

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