ACTOR SAYS STARS SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TO ACTORS' EARNINGS

Actor Peter Coyote has suggested that stars who earn millions of dollars for their performances in movies ought to share the wealth with established character actors, who have seen their earnings rolled back as the stars' skyrocket. Coyote, best known for his role as the scientist trying to track down E.T., suggests that the Screen Actors Guild ought to call upon leading actors to kick back "a modest amount, say on salaries over $6 million," to lift the pay of actors they are working with -- if producers act similarly. Such a move, he wrote in an open letter to lead actors, "would provide the ancillary benefit of insuring that you consistently play opposite actors of the highest caliber." Coyote also added that "such a gesture would buttress your peers who cannot win such gains for themselves except by sabotaging the entire industry with a strike," which also prevents lead actors from working.

22/07/2008