After Pete Davidson revealed that he started at Saturday Night Live earning $3,000 per episode, long-time cast member Kenan Thompson weighed in, suggesting that early on, it’s more about getting the opportunity than the paycheck.
In a chat with Variety at the American Museum of Natural History gala on Thursday, Dec. 5, Thompson gave his thoughts on his former costar's comments. "It’s pretty notorious that it’s more so about having the job than getting paid for the job," said Thompson, without confirming or denying Davidson's figure. "You gotta pay your dues a little bit, yeah."
Thompson would know; he's the longest-tenured cast member in SNL history and celebrated two decades with the show last year.
His reply comes not long after Davidson, who appeared on the show for eight years, was featured in a New York Magazine video where he and fellow SNL stars were asked what their biggest "splurge" was after their first paycheck from the series hit. "Do you guys know what they pay us?" said Davidson. "It's like three grand an episode. I think I got dinner."
Jason Sudeikis, who was hired as a writer in 2003 and was a cast member from 2005 to 2013, also suggested that those first paychecks don't allow them to "splurge" on anything. "I mean, you don't make enough money to make purchases, so I think New York rent was probably the biggest purchase I made after writing my first year on SNL," he shared.
Other current and former cast members featured in the video included Seth Meyers, Bowen Yang, Cheri Oteri, Sarah Sherman, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Louis-Dreyfus humorously recalled her first splurge: “I bought a pair of shoes that were out of my budget. I’m going to tell you, they were $75.”
