How generous! The Big Bang Theory‘s five original cast members are taking salary cuts to increase their costars Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch‘s pay, Variety reported on Tuesday, February 28.
Sources told the entertainment news outlet that Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg have agreed to take small pay cuts to allow the actresses to get raises.
Variety reported that Bialik, 41, and Rauch, 36 — who joined the CBS sitcom in season 3 as Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, respectively — earned $200,000-an-episode for the current 10th season, which is significantly less than the original five cast members’ $1 million-an-episode salary.
According to the site, Parsons, 43, Galecki, 41, Cuoco, 31, Nayyar, 35, and Helberg, 36, have each agreed to take a $100,000 salary cut per episode for the potential 11th and 12th seasons, freeing up $500,000 for Bialik and Rauch’s raises. If they were to split the $500,000, they’d each earn nearly $450,000 per episode. Variety reported that contract negotiations on the deals began this week.
Us Weekly has reached out to Warner Bros., CBS and Bialik’s representatives for comment.
The future of The Big Bang Theory has been up in the air for months, though CBS CEO Leslie Moonves recently said a two-season renewal was “very, very close,” Deadline reported earlier this month.
Bialik’s Amy and Rauch’s Bernadette have become integral characters on the series, which has grossed more than $1 billion in syndication, according to Variety. As fans know, Amy is the girlfriend of Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper, while Bernadette and Helberg’s Howard Wolowitz are married and welcomed a daughter named Halley this season.
The Big Bang Theory airs on CBS Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
