Cashing in! The cast of This Is Us earned major payouts ahead of the sixth and final season’s premiere, but one of the hit show’s stars did not receive as much money as his costars.
Deadline and The Wrap reported on Wednesday, November 24, that the seven original series regulars from the NBC drama — Milo Ventimiglia (Jack Pearson), Mandy Moore (Rebecca Pearson), Sterling K. Brown (Randall Pearson), Chrissy Metz (Kate Pearson), Justin Hartley (Kevin Pearson), Susan Kelechi Watson (Beth Pearson) and Chris Sullivan (Toby Damon) — got $2 million cash bonuses after asking for a pay raise from the network and production company 20th Television during the summer.
Jon Huertas, meanwhile, received a $1 million bonus. The actor, 52, had a recurring role as Miguel Rivas during season 1 and did not become a series regular until season 2. His castmates and series creator Dan Fogelman reportedly fought for him to get parity, but their efforts were not successful. Deadline claimed that the seven stars who banked $2 million bonuses offered to pool their money together and split it with Huertas so they would all make the same amount, but he declined.
The five central members of the cast — Ventimiglia, 44, Moore, 37, Brown, 45, Metz, 41, and Hartley, 44 — renegotiated their contracts in 2018 ahead of season 3, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Their per-episode salary rose to $250,000 at the time. Prior to the agreement, the stars earned different amounts, with Ventimiglia making $115,000 per episode, Hartley receiving $75,000 and Metz getting $40,000.
This Is Us will kick off its final season in January. The Gilmore Girls alum previously teased what fans have to look forward to as they await the series’ conclusion.
“Everybody’s excited. It’s senior year — or, you know, extension year! Everyone’s excited. Everyone feels good. You can tell everyone is present, and it’s the same well-oiled machine that we’ve been a part of for the last five years,” Ventimiglia exclusively told Us Weekly in October. “I think everybody is grateful to be able to wrap it up the way that Dan Fogelman and the writers planned. Beyond that, [we’re excited to just] have fun and enjoy ourselves and be together as a group because this is the last go around.”
The Heroes alum hinted that the ending will be “incredibly satisfying” and, of course, emotional. “I was just on set with Dan about two weeks ago and he was talking about some things that I didn’t know about the end. I was there with Mandy,” he said. “We just kind of looked at each other, like, one, excited to get into it, and two, incredibly devastated as human beings because this is probably gonna wreck people in the most heartfelt way. It’s beautiful. I’m so excited.”
Season 6 of This Is Us premieres on NBC Tuesday, January 4, at 9 p.m. ET.
