‘Friends’: How Much Money Did Matt LeBlanc Have Before the Show?
Friends became so popular that it made headlines for making the cast very rich. But most fans probably don’t know what the actors’ finances were like before the show. Matt LeBlanc talked about what life was like before he made it. So how much
Matt LeBlanc said he had only $11 at one time before the show
The actor was very much like his Friends character, Joey Tribbiani, still struggling to make it in the business before the sitcom. He revealed to Conan O’Brien how much money he had before making it.
“You know when you think, ‘Alright, I got a little money in the bank. I can hold out until the next gig,'” Matt LeBlanc said, “I think I was down to $11…now, that’s holding out too long.” He added, “I would have starved.”
He also revealed what lengths he had to go to in order to look the part when he still didn’t have any money.
He filed his own tooth before getting his picture taken
Appearances are sadly an important part of getting your big break. When a photographer mentioned to LeBlanc that he should get his uneven teeth fixed before getting his picture taken, he went to great lengths to fix it.
First, he went to a dentist who said it would cost $80 to shave down his longer tooth. He didn’t have that so he went to the drugstore, got a pack of emery boards and just did it himself.
The Friends cast eventually made $1 million per episode and more through syndication
The cast notably made a lot of money because they negotiated as a team later in the show. So how much exactly did they make?
They started off at $75,000 per episode before getting $1 million in Season 3, Season 9 and 10, according to People. Before the grouped negotiations the cast was being paid unevenly.
LeBlanc was actually paid the least to play Joey. That finally changed when Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer got the cast to stick together. “[Schwimmer] initiated the idea that if we stick together, nobody can rattle us,” revealed LeBlanc in a documentary about the show. “And it worked out, especially personally, for me. I was earning the least amount.”
It’s surprising given Aniston and Schwimmer were being paid more before this. Their solidarity “spurred by a lucrative Friends syndication deal, which will fetch about $4 million per episode for Warner Bros., or at least $192 million on the syndication rights for the first two seasons alone,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
Matt LeBlanc’s net worth reportedly is around $80 million today
The actor is obviously not struggling years after Friends ended thanks to that syndication deal. He is also continuing to work and there was an attempt to spinoff his Friends’ character with the show, Joey.
His net worth is reportedly $80 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. His co-star, Matthew Perry’s net worth is reported to be the same amount.
Read more: What Is the Net Worth of Each ‘Friends’ Star Today?
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