Jason Isaacs on Getting Only $40k Per ‘The White Lotus’ Episode: ‘I Never Work for Money’

Jason Isaacs, as well as the other cast members, were reportedly paid only $40,000 per episode for his role on The White Lotus. (Cue the collective gasp from everyone who just assumed HBO handed out gold bars as welcome gifts.) But Isaacs, ever the class act, is unbothered. In fact, when asked about his modest-by-Hollywood-standards paycheck, he casually dropped this gem: “I never work for money.” 

In an interview with Vulture, Isaacs, who played the Ratliff patriarch in the third season of the show, confirmed their pay per episode. He said, “I didn’t know that was public knowledge. That’s absolutely true. Generally, actors don’t talk about pay in public because it’s ridiculously disproportionate to what we do — putting on makeup and funny voices — and just upsets the public." 

He added, “But compared to what people normally get paid for big television shows, that’s a very low price. But the fact is, we would have paid to be in it. We probably would have given a body part.” 

When asked if he minded getting paid the same as his co-stars with far less experience than him, Isaacs said, “Do I mind that I wasn’t paid more than other people? I never work for money. I mean, I’ve done all right. People will think I have huge stockpiles of money, but sadly, what I’ve done rather immaturely is expand my outgoings to match my incomings and pretty much spent everything I’ve earned over the years.” 

Casting director Meredith Tucker and producer David Bernad revealed in an interview earlier this year that cast members of the show were paid the same, and it’s a system they have implemented since season 1. Rumors circulated that Woody Harrelson, who’s supposed to appear in season 3, tried to negotiate the salary with Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav.  

Bernad explained that the salaries of the cast are “not negotiable” and that “Everyone is treated the same on ‘The White Lotus.’ They get paid the same, and we do alphabetical billing, so you’re getting people who want to do the project for the right reasons, not to quote ‘The Bachelor.’ It’s a system we developed in the first season because there was no money to make the show.” 

Harrelson, for his part, clarified that the reason he was not able to do the show was because of a scheduling conflict.