UPDATE: As it turns out, Courtney is coming back for Sheldon and Amy’s wedding. Good for her! I hope Warner Brothers cut her a much bigger check this time.
In somewhat-related news: Kathy Bates will also be in the Season 11 series finale, although her specific role is being kept under wraps. Considering her age, it stands to reason that she’s going to play Amy’s mother. BUT, Amy’s mother had a few seconds of screen time in a previous episode, and she was played by [some bit actress whose name escapes me - Annette Something]. So if they brought back Courtney from 11 seasons ago for the sake of continuity, I see no reason why they wouldn’t bring back Annette for the same reason. Time will tell…
I understand from watching a couple of documentaries about “working actors” that most of them have what they call a “rate.” I took this to mean the amount that they expect to earn on a day of filming although one actor described it as the highest amount he had ever earned for a day of filming. His and his agent know the actor’s rate and the agent keeps it in mind when negotiating new roles. Their goal is for the actor to work steadily enough and be in demand enough that people want him for projects and he has enough work that he must turn some jobs down. When that happens, a producer may offer him more money to get him and his rate has magically increased.
He sometimes works for less than his rate. This might be because the project is especially prestigious (famous director, amazing cast, great project or part that could be nominated for awards) and could lead to more fame and a higher profile. It might be because he just isn’t getting enough work at his rate to survive and any part is better than no part. He noted that because of the diminishing economics in the TV business (and I would suggest perhaps because of his own diminishing appeal), it was getting harder and harder for him to collect his rate.
So, Ms. Hengeller and her agent have some rate she is targeting. Has her rate gone up due to her steady work and increasing popularity over the years? Does she have a good reputation for professionalism? Do the show’s fans and producers value continuity in her role after all this time? If so, she will expect to be paid a premium over the union minimum. Maybe she and her agent view a returning spot on a popular and profitable show as a chance to push up her rate. On the other hand, TV ad revenues are dropping. Other stars on the show have a lot more negotiating leverage than a working actor and are going to suck up a much bigger share of the show’s production budget. Maybe fans barely remember her first appearance and wouldn’t notice if she were recast. Maybe producers know she will value the promotion that could come from a guest starring appearance on a big show. If so, they might think she should work for less than her rate.
These factors will all be balanced in negotiations between the producers and her agent. It’s a business. No one is going to punish her or her agent for trying to get more money. That’s what actors do.
Example: Tom Hanks playing Woody in the Toy Story series.[ul]
[li]1 $50,000 – between Apollo 13 and That Thing You Do![/li][li]2 $5,000,000 – between You’ve Got Mail and The Green Mile[/li][li]3 $15,000,000 – between The Pacific (narrator) and Larry Crowne[/li][li]4 $15,000,000 – still nebulous.[/li][/ul] No points being mentioned in any event. Now the first was awfully low for him, Splash some ten years before being $70,000. Pixar had no money to spare then and perhaps he was intrigued by it being the first CGI feature.
An actor does not “own” a character they play or have any rights to the character unless they literally bought the production rights (has been known to happen but it is generally pretty rare). An actor generally does own the rights to reproduction of their image (usually granted a limited license for promotional and marketing purposes, and may prove license for one time or residual payment for action figures and other merchandise with likenesses) but anyone can be recast into a role for which the production company has rights to that character. For instance, the role of James Bond has been cast at least seven times (and likely will be recast again), and while Pierce Brosnan can prevent EON from using his voice or image, he doesn’t have any say over who gets cast or anything about their performance that might be derived from his own.
Well, and voice work is pretty easy work to do. Voice actors are often not even required to be in the studio at the same time, they can take breaks whenever without causing dozens of people to wait on them, doesn’t require any makeup or costuming, most actors live within driving distance of some kind of voice studio, and even in a live film production actors generally have to spend some time “looping” dialogue which everybody hates because it has to exactly match their lips. Plus, because it doesn’t require scheduling around production activities or availability of other actors, it can be easily slotted in between other jobs. At the time that $50k was probably easy money for a movie he could show his kids, and when Toy Story blew up into a major franchise (and Pixar into a money-printing machine) Hanks could demand a higher salary that the studio could readily afford with the knowledge that they’d recoup and profit in sales and merchandise.
Stranger
For what it’s worth, the credits of that episode do list Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper. It doesn’t sound much like her to me, either, but according to the credits, it is.
I know this particular question was asked a while ago, but since the thread has become active again, I thought I would chime in.
It’s interesting that Courtney Henggeler has French, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese Wikipedia entries but not an English one.
Just to add another data point to the negotiation of actors contracts. I’ve been cast as a sidekick on a TV show pilot and I let my lawyer handle the negotiation the first phase was asking for the contract cut through that is basically a standard list of things they give actors based on their level of fame, unfortunately I didn’t rate a cut through and we had to negotiate each item individually. I wanted a much hire rate per episode then they wanted to give me to replace the time I was going to spend filming the show and I capped the number of days of filming so that I was paid for the work that I was missing which certainly made the producers grumpy and someone else was almost cast in the role. Once I was on set the only time my contract was mentioned was when we bumped against my total days filming and I volunteered to film an extra day for ‘free’ and I was told that they didn’t want to go against the contract there were no hard feelings at all. Now we’re waiting to see if the show goes to series and negotiating another contract and my lawyer is trying to get me the best deal but I don’t expect any hard feelings when I meet with the producers in the future its just business and they get it.
There are absolutely clauses in my contract about being able to appear in episodes as they demand and in my case they can extend the contract for up to five years without putting me in any episodes so depending on the deal she could be coming back on the same contract. Of course as my lawyer told me every contract is open to renegotiation and no one is going to force me to be on the show so even if Courtney was under the same contract she’d be in a position to get more money just from her career evolving from the first appearance. The one last thing to note is like all negotiations the agent/lawyer’s job is to know who holds the power so in my case I’m not too worried about becoming an actor and really could take or leave it which gives me an edge since it would be more of a hastle for them to replace me then it would be for me to go to work tomorrow, one reason I kept my day job. If you don’t have any power it’s very difficult to get a better deal.
Oredigger77: Are you using your regular lawyer for these negotiations and to look out for your interests? Does he do a lot of this? Or are you using “your” lawyer because you are not yet enough “in the biz” to have an agent represent you? I assume an actor has to get to a certain point before an agent will represent him, correct?
Actually my lawyer in this a specialty entertainment lawyer who works for both production companies and talent. Once I realized I was going to get cast I asked a family friend, who was a producer, what I should do and they referred me to a lawyer who referred me to my lawyer. In my case I was already in the casting process so what I really needed was a specialist in negotiating entertainment contracts, which is really what entertainment lawyers are for. As I’ve been told agents main job is getting you your next gig so if I decide to get in to acting and want to hunt down other work I’ll need an agent. The other problem is agents and some lawyers work on commission rather then a fixed fee like my lawyer right now my earning are speculative, for the most part, and so getting someone to put in the time for 10% of what may be nothing, if I’m not cast and don’t want to put in the effort to do this full time after a rejection, is more difficult. To get an agent they have to believe that they can book you gigs that their percentage on will be worth their effort.
I’m very happy with my lawyer since she knows these contracts from both sides of the table she’s been able to pull standard clauses and concepts from other jobs and bring up things that I never would have though of as being in my interest which is very helpful since my path into the industry has been weird and I don’t know any of the common knowledge things and what is normal in my past working life has people, including my lawyer, looking at me like I have two heads.
Is this a non-union production? Do you have some sort of in? In my experience it is difficult or impossible to audition for union jobs without an agent, in major markets at least.
But I don’t have a lot of experience about how it is done for non-union productions.
If you have been cast, I doubt you’d have a lot of trouble getting an agent. I know you might not want to pay commission but since the odds of the pilot getting bought are low, an agent could get you other gigs which would be easier since you have been cast.
Ya, non-union actually reality tv. They just happened to be making a show about what I do for a living. The whole process has been very weird.
I really enjoyed shooting the pilot and hope we get picked up just because it was fun but I’m sure doing it 16 episodes a season will turn it more into a job. I’ve had brief thoughts about trying another show if this one doesn’t get picked up but not nearly enough to spend the effort to actually do more then think about it. Most likely I’ll pitch me show idea to the pres of the production company and see if they want to take another run with me.
Actually, it’s not unusual for a recurring role like a parent of a lead to be recast with a celebrity. IIRC, Jerry’s father on Seinfeld and Jamie’s parents on Mad About You were recast after season 1. Granted, Barney Martin isn’t really a celebrity, but Jamie’s parents became Carol Burnett and Carroll O’Connor.
Look at it this way: Which is more likely, someone saying, “Hey, I’m going to watch that episode of The Big Bang Theory because Annette somebody will be on it,” or someone saying, “Hey, I’m going to watch that episode of The Big Bang Theory because Kathy Bates will be on it”?
Oredigger, your response was really interesting. I’m surprised that the contract is extendable for five years. That seems long to me but I guess your attorney knows what is normal and expected. I appreciate your contribution.
I suggest that if you want to stay in reality television, and if your current producer isn’t interested in your idea, try to get some good footage of you from the pilot that could be edited into a “sizzle real.” You could use the sizzle real to pitch other production companies. I have a friend who was in reality TV production for many years and they are always looking for interesting personalities and good, original ideas for new shows that can produced cheaply. Good luck.
The real question is, when is Oredigger77 going to tell us who he/she is, and what show they’re on?
I’ve linked to what I do to a living several times so I don’t really have any anonymity here any how. The pilot is behind a pay wall but here is a trailer for it.
[quote=“Oredigger77, post:36, topic:805983”]
I’ve linked to what I do to a living several times so I don’t really have any anonymity here any how. The pilot is behind a pay wall but here is a trailer for it.
[/QUOTE]Sorry, never noticed that. Which one are you?
Yeah! I’m beginning to think your real name is not “Oredigger77”.
Got it. That makes sense now.
Nope, my real name is Oredigger77 I’m using a stage name for the show.
I’m the engineer that gets brought in.