Billy Porter has shut down the assumption that most actors are millionaires.
The Pose actor insisted in an interview with The Guardian that most actors are not as wealthy as people think they are.
“People have this perception that we’re millionaires. You know how much I made on Cinderella?” he said, referring to the 2021 movie musical. “Only enough to cover my mortgage for four months, maybe. It’s unacceptable that I’m one award away from an EGOT (he has won an Emmy, Grammy and a Tony, but not an Oscar) and one strike puts me out of my house.”
The 54-year-old revealed during last year’s actors strike, which ran from July to November, that he put his house on the market because he didn’t know when he would next be paid.
However, he acknowledged to The Guardian that he was still one of the “extremely blessed ones” because he was able to generate income through other avenues.
“I’m a person who is so multi-faceted – I have a brand new pop album out, honey, on Republic records. I can go back to do a Broadway show, you know what I mean?” he stated.
While the strike was resolved, Porter is still miffed that “the burden and the fallout still gets passed” onto working actors instead of the executives of studios and streamers.
“Streaming destroyed the artist’s ability to make money, our ability to participate in capitalism. Being an artist, we’re always freelance, and very often blue collar,” he lamented. “Those Friends people are making $100m a year! I’m getting six-cent cheques! It’s not OK!”