Josh Peck says Drake & Josh salary was ‘not enough to set you up for life’
‘A lot of it we lived on,’ star said
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Your support makes all the difference.Josh Peck revealed how much he made as a child star on Nickelodeon’s hit show Drake & Josh.
The How I Met Your Father actor was one part of the titular duo in the early 2000s sitcom – alongside Drake Bell, Miranda Cosgrove, and Jerry Trainor – about two teenage boys who’ve recently just become stepbrothers, and must overcome their differences to live together.
On Monday’s (11 April) episode of the Trading Secrets podcast, the 35-year-old opened up about his salary throughout the show’s four seasons.
“I think it’s quite public that if you were on a show like Two and a Half Men or Modern Family, and you were the kid on a massive network, syndicated show – the case could be made that you’d have enough money to last you for the rest of your life,” Peck said.
However, he explained that his salary was not so abundant: “You live with about $450,000 (£345,000) over five years, which breaks down to a little less than $100,000 (£76,000) a year.
“Now, certainly a great amount of money, but not enough to set you up for life,” he added.
Peck negated the common belief that most child stars have a “golden parachute,” additionally clarifying that there are “no residuals [checks] on kids’ television”.
“But, the reality is that when we were making the show, we did 60 episodes and we made about $15,000 (£11,000) an episode. So, when all is said and done, we were sort of left after agents and managers and taxes,” he said.
He concluded: “It was like we had 18 months of runway, you know. It’s as though someone had lost their job.”
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