13 Reasons Why cast secures major raises for season 3

The ensemble cast of Netflix’s controversial hit drama, 13 Reasons Why, will be cashing much bigger paychecks in season three.

Well, it seems the13 Reasons Why cast’s persistence in renegotiating their contracts has paid off, literally. The Netflix drama’s eight primary cast members will be receiving upwards of $100,000  more per episode in season three than they did in season one, according to Deadline.

Dylan Minnette, now the series’ sole lead following Katherine Langford’s exit, will earn the highest salary this season — an estimated $200,000 per episode. Minnette started off at about $80,000 per episode when he signed on to play Clay Jensen.

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Minnette’s co-stars Brandon Flynn, Alisha Boe, Justin Prentice, Christian Navarro, Miles Heizer, Devin Druid and Ross Butler are also receiving significant salary boosts. The actors will earn an estimated $135, 000 per episode.

It’s actually not the number they’d been hoping to see. While Minnette’s new salary matches his original request, his co-stars had requested $150,000 per episode. The raises they did receive are nothing to be scoffed at, though. The actors signed to the series’ for an estimated $20,000-$60,000 per episode.

The contract renegotiations weren’t unreasonable, considering their show’s popularity. Per Deadline‘s reporting, the second season’s premiere was watched 6 million times within three days of its release; and the series, as a whole, attracted 2.6 million viewers per minute within that same time period.

It’s also “customary” for actors on hit series to request raises before getting to work on third seasons, according to Deadline. That being said, there may have been a rather specific motivating factor in this case.

The cast of another other hugely Netflix popular series, Stranger Things, recently received raises ahead of their third season. Per Deadline‘s reporting, most of the child actors are earning an estimated $250,000 per episode, while de facto lead Millie Bobby Brown is likely earning even more. Winona Ryder and David Harbour are raking in an estimated $350,000 per episode.

The 13 Reasons Why cast settled their renegotiations on Thursday, but the actors didn’t hold up production, which began Monday, according to Deadline.

"All 13 Reasons actors were still under contracts and started work on Season 3 as scheduled before renegotiations were completed. We hear they even convened together for a cast dinner following the series’ first table read."

The series was renewed for a third season back in June, after dropping its second season in May. The new season is expected to premiere in 2019, as Netflix revealed on Twitter the day of the series’ renewal.