Most of the principal actresses on HBO's Big Little Lies will get a considerable pay rise for season two.
Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, who play Celeste Wright and Madeline Martha Mackenzie on the show, will reportedly take home about $US1million ($1.26 million) per episode, plus executive producer fees and back-end points. Zo?? Kravitz??? and Shailene Woodley will also get "sizeable" raises.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this pay rise is a step up from their previous $US250,000- $US350,000 per episode. The spike comes as a result of price-matching negotiations after Witherspoon signed a new deal with Apple. Apple are reportedly paying Witherspoon and co-star Jennifer Aniston $US1.25 million to star in an upcoming, still unnamed morning-news drama, which has been ordered for 20 episodes.
"It's not a shock to anybody that having a second season of an ongoing series is easier to have with those deals in place," HBO programming president Casey Bloys told The Hollywood Reporter. "Every outlet has to make their own decisions about economics that make sense for them. I'm not going to shake my fist and say, 'Darn it, Apple!' If that's what made sense for them for that show, God bless."
HBO did not initially have additional season deals with any of the Big Little Lies cast, but following the shows Emmy and Golden Globe successes, they have inked entirely new deals with the cast for a second season.
As for Apple's new deal, this is their second straight-to-series order, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, if HBO follows through paying the Apple quote, it could mean a mass inflation on all TV actor salaries.
Season two of Big Little Lies is expected to shoot in the spring but won't air until 2019.
