And on a calm Thursday afternoon, I am bestowed with newfound respect for Steve Guttenberg.
You had a string of hits in the 1980s. What have you been up to lately?
There are 100,000 actors in the Screen Actors Guild. Only 2,000 of them make more than $75,000 (£42,000) a year. That means 98,000 actors make less than $75,000 a year. From 1980 to 1990, I shot more films than any other actor in the Screen Actors Guild apart from Gene Hackman. Everyone keeps asking me that stupid question: “What are you doing?” I say: “Why do I need to do anything? I’m rich.” Do you want me to be poor again? Do you want me to go back to making tomato soup out of ketchup and water? Or would you like me to be a multimillionaire and be rewarded for all the entertainment I gave you for all those years? I’m enjoying life now. If I was a plumber and I’d done the most plumbing jobs between 1980 and 1990, everyone would be saying: “What a great plumber” – he says “f**k you to the world and he’s enjoying himself.” But for some reason, as an actor, you’re not allowed to say: “I’m f**king rich, bro.”
There’s nothing I can add to this. It’s just fucking awesome. Winners. We’re all winners today, thanks to this article.
Ketchup and water = dinnerHow could you be poor at only $75,000 a year? I guess that’s poor to Guttenberg’s standards, but I’d live life very well at $75,000 a year. Funny how some would consider that poor…
poorMaybe he ate like that before 1980 and was making that kind of money?
well.Well, there are something like a dozen Police Academy movies to collect royalties from.
hmmmthe only reason hes famous is because of the stone cutters….
Guttenburg….what a douche.Ketchup and water on a 75k salary….sure, I can see him calling that poor if he was also having to maintain a steady flow of hookers n’ blow.
Way to thinkIf you really think that all 98,000 of those actors are making ~$75,000 a year, you’re idiots.
Just a side noteWhile they sure as hell aren’t making that much (idiots)…75K a year in Hollywood/LA is just about enough to rent a slightly decent apartment for the rest of your natural life.
$75k is enough anywhere…I lived in Culver City Los Angeles on $8/hr 40 hrs/week and had no problems paying rent for a decent apartment. My wages worked out to well under 17k a year and I \”survived\” in Los Angeles just fine. This was within 10 miles of Hollywood. I have no fucking idea what anyone making $75k could complain about.
Uh…Living and having a life are two different things. Home ownership, family, other things that most mortals seem to want… not as possible. Especially since right now housing in Southern California is absolutely fucking ridiculous. The house I grew up in just went for 1.4 million, and we sold it for about $180K in 1987. And that was a goddamned good price to sell for at the time. Take it from someone who’s here now, and knows from personal experience: 75K is fine for being here, but not building a life here. C’moonnnnn housing market crash.
forced out of caliSharkey, some of us got \”smart\” and got the fuck outta california. I’ve tripled my money in two years living in Vegas. There’s enough equity built up now that IF I wanted to return to the coast, I could afford it. But, who wants to live with a bunch of idiots who elected AHNULD?