“The Glory” actress Song Hye Kyo receives 200 million won for one drama episode… Actor who gets paid 1 billion won is?
The appearance of Lee Jung Jae in his next drama after “Squid Game” will cost up to 1 billion won per episode.
Ahn Jin Young, a reporter for Munhwa Ilbo and Youtuber, revealed the appearance fees of top actors, such as Lee Jung Jae and Kim Soo Hyun, in a video uploaded on Youtube on January 21st.
First of all, Song Joong Ki, Lee Jong Suk, Ji Chang Wook, Kim Soo Hyun, and Lee Min Ho are actors who get paid around 300 million won per episode for a drama on terrestrial/ general channels. In other words, they receive approximately 4.8 billion won in appearance fees for a 16-episode drama.
In the case of Kim Soo Hyun and Lee Min Ho, who have high recognition levels overseas, will receive incentives.
Actresses tend to earn less than actors. Jeon Ji Hyun and Song Hye Kyo were said to receive the highest appearance fee of 200 million won per episode among actresses. In particular, Ahn Jin Young predicted that Song Hye Kyo will get paid higher in her next drama/film because she recently gained huge success with Netflix’s drama “The Glory”.
OTT usually pays actors more than terrestrial and general drama projects. Lee Jung Jae is the star with the highest appearance fee among those who appear in OTT original series.
Ahn Jin Young explained, “In October last year, it was reported that the amount Lee Jung Jae got paid for one episode had risen to 1 billion won. This confirmed the possibility of an actor getting 1 billion won for an episode”, adding “Except for Lee Jung Jae, no drama actors have made this. Lee Jung Jae’s popularity is his ransom”.
He continued, “In Season 1, Lee Jung Jae did not receive enough rewards, including incentives. At that time, no one thought ‘Squid Game’ would be so successful. In the end, Netflix announced Season 2. As Lee Jung Jae will continue to star in Season 2, he is expected to receive the remaining reward for the success of Season 1. Considering this, people in the drama market believe that 1 billion won per episode is a possible number”.
In addition, Kim Soo Hyun is also said to receive more than 500 million won per episode on OTT. Ahn Jin Young pointed out that Lee Jung Jae raised the value of the OTT market with “Squid Game” so Kim Soo Hyun’s appearance fee also rose.
The appearance fees of movie stars were also disclosed. The highest-paid actors are Song Kang Ho, Lee Byung Hun and Ha Jung Woo. The three are known to receive 10% of the profits from their 1 billion won appearance fee. However, Ahn Jin Young predicted that appearance fees in the movie market will not rise for the time being due to the recent slump resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: Nate
