Aussie actor Luke Cook reveals shockingly low pay as strikes bring Hollywood to a standstill

Australian actor Luke Cook has revealed what working actors in the US are actually paid to appear in popular streaming shows. The figure may shock you.

Australian actor Luke Cook reveals what he is paid for a main part in a show: $7500, minus tax, 10 percent for management, 10 per cent for an agent, and 5 per cent to a lawyer. Picture:Justin Lloyd/The Daily Telegraph.

Australian actor Luke Cook has revealed what working actors in the US are actually paid to appear in popular streaming shows.

The Sydney-born, LA-based actor has starred in the likes of Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Katy Keene and Dynasty, and Hulu’s Dollface.

“I am not a millionaire,” Cook said in the video posted to TikTok on Friday, when The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), representing more than 150,000 actors went on strike, joining screenwriters who walked out in May to create Hollywood’s first industry-wide shutdown in 63 years.

“I drive a 2010 Mazda S3, and my previous car was a 2006 Ford Tarus,” the Guardians of the Galaxy actor said.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and actors picketing outside Netflix studios on July 14, in Los Angeles. Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images.

“95 per cent of the actors in SAG cannot make a living from acting, so they’ve got to have side hustles. I am one of those actors.”

Although the list of A-listers putting their star-wattage behind the strike is long — including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron, Jane Fonda, and our own Margot Robbie — their pay packets are unlikely to be affected by the strike’s result.

Australian actor Luke Cook, known for Hollywood roles in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Guardians of the Galaxy, says the strikes are not about A-list actors and millionaires, but people like him. Picture: Justin Lloyd/The Daily Telegraph.

“The actors that you’re thinking of, who are the millionaires, are usually series regulars or big A-listers in big movies. The actors who are around them, though, are actors like myself: guest stars, co-stars etc., and we’re paid chips,” Cook explained.

“I’ll give you an example. I did a show called Dollface last year, they put me on a billboard on Sunset Boulevard. Do you know how much they paid me to be on the billboard? Zero.

The amount they paid me to be on the show was not much better.”

@thelukecook Replying to @Drew #sagstrike#sagaftra♬ original sound - Luke Cook

Cook lives in Los Angeles with his wife Kara and their two children, and says he has to work two additional jobs to supplement his income.

For Dollface: “I got paid per episode, which is two weeks of work for US$7500. Then it’s taxed, then a manager takes ten per cent, an agent takes ten per cent and then a lawyer takes 5 per cent,” Cook said.

Australian actor Luke Cook with his wife and their two young children. Picture: Supplied.

“I am one rung below a series regular, who is making maybe $100,000 per episode. They’re very wealthy and they’re worth it too, they’re usually very talented people. A huge portion of this strike is about people like me, who need to be paid more for the work that they do, who are asking for a portion of the profits that these streamers and big companies are bringing in.”

On the first day of the strike, on Friday local time, four simultaneous protests occurred in New York City as picketers rallied in front of the Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery Offices near Union Square, Amazon and HBO in Hudson Yards, Paramount in Times Square and NBCUniversal at 30 Rock.

@itskimiko “New media” 🙄😩 #oitnb#royalties#paycheck#netflix#orangeisthenewblack#brooksoso#soso#kimikoglenn♬ original sound - kimiko

One point of contention is residuals, the amount of money actors are paid in royalties from the number of streams their shows receive.

Orange Is The New Black actor Kimiko Glenn revealed she was paid $27.30 in residuals for appearing in 44 of 91 episodes of the Emmy Award-winning series that helped put Netflix on the map.

Margot Robbie attends a photocall on July 13, 2023 in London, England. The Barbie press tour was ended early, as all actors participating in the strike must cease all acting, promotion, and appearances. Photo: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images.

Glenn said all of the cast had second jobs, despite being “internationally famous.”

Cook shared her sentiment: “As someone who’s a battler, and I always have a side job, I think it’d be great to get paid money to be in your favourite show. That just seems fair to me. If you see me on TV, I shouldn’t have to have two side jobs just to get by.”

As the strikes cancelled the New York red-carpet premiere of Oppenheimer and ended the global Barbie press tour early, Margot Robbie said she “absolutely stands by” it.

Hundreds of Australian workers are likely to be stood down from US film productions, while the union representing Australian screen workers has said that wholly local productions won’t be unaffected.