Rob Lowe and Ed O'Neill Say $40,000 for Six Weeks of Work is 'Bulls**t'

Here's a fun game: put a bunch of well-respected actors in a room, and find out which ones are spoiled little a**holes.

THR put on an "Emmy Roundtable" with a set of comedy actors, including Rob Lowe ("Parks & Recreation"), Ed O'Neill ("Modern Family"), Chris Colfer ("Glee"), Joel McHale ("Community"), Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"), Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men") and Danny DeVito ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"). During the discussion, the topic turned to low-paying work...or, at least, what Rob Lowe and Ed O'Neill consider to be low-paying.

Here's a snippet from the conversation, after O'Neill talked about doing a movie for HBO written by David Mamet and starring Al Pacino and Bette Midler:

O'Neill: So I said, “I thought you said $40,000 for six weeks’ work.” “Yeah.” Scale. “Yeah.” Is Al working for scale?” “No.” “Is Bette working for scale?” “No.” I said, “Well, good luck.” Now, I’m not doing it.

Lowe: You know why it happens? It’s because they know that at the end of the day we love good material. And they will use that to exploit us. And that’s -- excuse me -- bulls**t.

God forbid that either of these actors have to work for scale ("scale" is the minimum that guild rules require actors to be paid, which is often the rate for starters in the business or the rate for low-budget productions). God forbid they get $40,000 for six weeks of work (which, extrapolated out over a year, would add up to over $300,000) in a country where the median income is less than $40,000 for an entire year.

There are scores of actors who would love to take scale to work in a Mamet project with the likes of Pacino and Midler. There are plenty who would take that kind of dream job for no pay at all. And there are millions of people who would work any number of jobs, many of them a lot more difficult than acting, for that kind of money. Hell, enlisted military members are lucky to make that kind of money in a year, and they run the risk of getting shot.

It's too bad, because these are two very talented actors, and they're on two of the funniest shows on television. To be fair, they're veterans in the industry, and that earns them the right to a pay increase. But does it earn them the right whine about it when they don't get offered millions? Nope.

Shame on them both for completely losing touch with what it's like to be a normal, working individual, as an actor or not.

Watch the video below, and keep an eye on the stony expressions on the faces of Joel McHale and Chris Colfer (both of whom were probably working for scale just a few short years ago), and the scoff from Neil Patrick Harris when Lowe calls working for scale "bulls**t."