During the course of a career spanning four decades, it shouldn’t be surprising that Alicia Witt has managed to build up a comfortable net worth of $4 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
If that seems modest by Hollywood standards, Witt offered an explanation. Interviewed by Forbes, she pointed out that there’s a vast divide between what a series regular on a TV series can earn (think: the $1 million per episode paid to the stars of “The Big Bang Theory”) compared to what she earns in a guest-starring capacity. “It depends, I guess, on what the budget of the show is but it’s never more than $9,000 per episode. And it’s usually between $5,000 and $6,000,” she said.
As an example, she pointed to her recurring roles on “Friday Night Lights” and “Justified.” While it may have appeared to viewers she was a series regular, that wasn’t the case. As a result, she pointed out, “you’re paid as if it’s a guest starring thing.” Noting those roles once paid “a recurring rate,” she added, “Now they just say ‘Well, it’s going to be 10 episodes out of the 13, but they will all be billed as guest starring roles, and again if you don’t like it, there’s always someone else lined up who will take the part so you have to decide by the end of the day.'”
