'This Is Us' star Mandy Moore says she once received 'a penny' in residuals from the hit show

• "This Is Us" star Mandy Moore spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how little actors are being paid.
• She said that she once earned "a penny" in residuals from the hit show despite being a lead actor.
• Residuals are royalties earned when a TV show or movie is screened after its initial release.

"This Is Us" star Mandy Moore has said that she once received "a penny" in residuals from the hit show.

Hollywood actors in the SAG-AFTRA union are currently striking in part due to how streaming has affected residuals, which are royalties earned when a TV show or movie is screened again after its initial release.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter on the picket line outside the Disney lot, Moore, who was previously nominated for an Emmy for her lead role in the drama, said that actors are no longer able to live off of residuals.

Moore said that while the show has been put on streaming services such as Hulu, she has only received "very tiny, like 81-cent checks."

"I was talking with my business manager who said he's received a residual for a penny and two pennies," she said.

She continued: "The residual issue is a huge issue. We're in incredibly fortunate positions as working actors having been on shows that found tremendous success in one way or another … but many actors in our position for years before us were able to live off of residuals or at least pay their bills."

"Scandal" star Katie Lowes, who was also on the picket line, told the publication that she hasn't received substantial residuals from the show's streaming deals with Netflix and Hulu.

"If you are someone who has been fortunate enough in our positions to do 120-plus episodes of a successful show in previous years — 10, 15, 20 years ago — that re-airing would be the thing that could sustain you on years where I did this smaller project or I wanted to go do a play or you have kids and you have a family to provide for," Lowes said. "And that just not a reality anymore. The entire model has changed."  

Several other Hollywood actors have come forward to criticize the residuals system amid the SAG-AFTRA strike, which began last Friday.

"Orange Is the New Black" star Kimiko Glenn reshared a TikTok video she first posted in 2020, in which she showed a letter notifying her of all the residuals she received from appearing in 44 episodes of "OITNB." The total was $27.37.

Kamil McFadden, one of the lead actors on Disney Channel's "K.C. Undercover," also tweeted a video showing that he made minus figures in residuals from some episodes of the hit show.

"Wanna see something crazy? Y'all ever seen negative amounts on your residuals? The full video is almost two minutes long and I'm only netting $2.77. The math ain't mathing," he wrote in the tweet.