So, let me first begin this column with an apology for my tardiness. It seems that I am two days late and a dollar short. I’ve been rather busy. Trust me. It’s been an interesting few weeks. It’s also been an interesting few weeks in the world of entertainment. Just last week the cast of ABC’s Modern Family decided to demand to be paid even more money going into their next season. There’s nothing like greed in the morning, eh?
While some fans feel that this is justified, others are simply appalled. I think I may be on the fence here … at least for now. The cast is undoubtedly talented and I’ve been especially impressed with the lovely Sofia Vergara. That broad gives me goosebumps … and I’m not talking about the series of scary novels by R.L. Stine. It has been wonderful seeing her garner such critical acclaim for her role as a funny bombshell housewife. In fact, I think it’s deserved.
For some reason, it always makes me happy to see actors and actresses, whom I think are awesome, work their way up to become established and recognized. James Marsden immediately comes to mind. I really enjoyed seeing him become more distinguished over the years. The same can be said about Mehcad Brooks of USA’s Necessary Roughness. Vergara certainly has charm. Pardon my French, but her body is slammin’. This, of course, makes up for the fact that some people may have a bit of a hard time understanding what exactly she is saying.
You see, Vergara is of Colombian descent and her accent is just a bit heavy. Some find her hard to interpret. Others find it damn sexy. I’m in the latter. I’d like to say that it takes more than just looks and a sultry voice to make it in Hollywood, but, well, that would be about as misleading as Florida Governor Rick Scott. To that end, it’s nice to know that Vergara does have some kind of aptitude. You have to have comedic timing in order to be a part of Modern Family’s ensemble cast. Plus, she’s got a slew of acting credits to her name including Four Brothers, Dirty Sexy Money, and a couple of gigs in two Tyler Perry movies that shall not be named.
Still, is all of this enough to warrant a pay raise when she’s already making so much?
This is where I’m a bit confused. It’s common knowledge that top-tier actors and actresses in Hollywood are paid a lot. Most of us could live a year with just a week’s worth of what they make. In fact, it always baffles me whenever celebrities request that we donate our money whenever Mother Nature deals some country a natural disaster. I don’t mind donating, but I can’t help but wonder how much they’ve given. I’m just sayin’. According to Forbes, Vergara is one of the highest paid actresses in television. She made over 15 million last year. I’m not knocking her. Heck, I think she’s awesome. As someone who has appeared in theatrical productions, I know that memorizing a script and showing up to work fourteen hour days can be a pain, but guess what — being the president is just as difficult and we all know Obama doesn’t make nearly as much as George Clooney … and for that matter, neither did Bush.
Okay, my tangent is over. Let’s get back on track. Vergara has garnered Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominations which does give her some credibility. However, she already has lucrative deals with K-Mart, Diet Pepsi and CoverGirl cosmetics. Essentially, what I’m saying is that she ain’t broke. In a world with rising gas prices, skyrocketing costs of living and where more and more individuals are being laid off, I just think it would be nice if some celebrities would be thankful for the thousands of dollars that they are making. Hearing about the cast of Modern Family suing 20th Century Fox in regards to salary disputes just didn’t sound right to me. Sorry, Sofia — I guess that’s where we differ.
Well, at least she’s nice to look at.
Clacked by Jaylen Christie 
on Aug 01, 2012 @ 20:18 EST5EDT
Woww-www…I was wondering when the thinly-veiled “racist card” was gonna be played!! I mean, I expected IT to rear its green head IMMEDIATELY after the group lawsuit was promulgated..but you did mention how “short of mental cash” you’ve been all this time. OK, I’ve already justified your oblique view for too long. Good bye…and can’t wait to see your “review” to “Machete Kills”…Pshhh…
*POST AUTHOR*
Rico, if I sound racist then I honestly do apologize. I’m not racist, sir. I value diversity. My column is ABOUT diversity. I mentioned several times in the editorial that I like Sofia Vergara. In fact, I even said that I’m not knocking her because I think she’s awesome. I mentioned the nominations that she’s garnered and the wonderful things that she has accomplished. I just believe that actors and actresses are paid too much. I mentioned that in the fifth paragraph — therefore I believe that not only is Vergara paid too much, but the whole entire cast is. Maybe it would have helped if I would have clarified that. Is she talented? Yes. I mentioned that you have to have great comedic chops to be in the cast. Does she deserve the acclaim? Absolutely. I mentioned that as well. I just feel that celebrities make too much money, and since my column is about minorities in Hollywood, I zeroed in on Vergara. I didn’t mean any harm. I was merely giving my opinion…and clearly we disagree. However, that’s the beauty of having different opinions. We can take different sides. :-)
Race card…what an idiot. He did not play the race card. What utter BS.
What someone is paid is only limited by what someone else is willing to pay them. Sofia Vergara is following in the footsteps of Kelsey Grammer, Drew Carrie, Tim Allen, the cast of “Friends” and others. Actors and athletes entertain us and because they do, deserve what their paid. Sorry to sound blunt, but smartphone typing limits my ability for verbosity.
*POST AUTHOR*
You didn’t sound blunt. Don’t get me wrong. I think that entertainers should be well paid…however, millions and millions of dollars? I don’t know about all of that, Otto. Sometimes I think it’s just a bit much. For example, the four leads of Desperate Housewives were the highest paid women on TV…and then they demanded raises in their final season which led to several of their supporting actors and actresses not being able to appear as much because their salaries had to be cut. That just doesn’t sound right to me.
In entertainment and in sports there is enough money to go around. Often, on TV shows and movies, actors are given a “Producer” credit as another way of sharing in the profits. If you’ve got the goods there is noting wrong with asking for better pay. Notice, that the salary situation was quickly solved. In the past there have been long drawn out (and sometimes ugly) salary negotiations. Hey, when the guys from “Dukes of Hazard” asked for more they got replaced by 2 new Dukes.
*POST AUTHOR*
Good point, Otto. There is enough money to go around in the entertainment world, so I guess when they demand raises some normal folks like us see it as them being greedy because we don’t have a million plus dollars. I still think that the Modern Family cast should be thankful for being paid so much to begin with. That’s just my opinion. If I were making that much cash, I just couldn’t imagine asking for more. And yes, I remember The Dukes of Hazzard situation! Unfortunately, their replacement cousins weren’t as funny and charming as the original two characters and were quickly written out after a season. LOL
What happens in TV land is when a sitcom becomes very successful and receives high ratings, the cast demands more money. I have seen this happen too often. Are they deserving of more millions….the actors/actress would say yes. Yes, because they feel they are the reason for the show’s success. Can it sometimes be greed? Yes! I agree with you that Sofia Vergara is an excellent actress and she has done very well for herself; however, I question if she and the cast should demand more money. Sometimes you have to be careful with your demands. They may bite you in the butt.
Great article as always. I look forward to reading your next article and keep on clacking!!
*POST AUTHOR*
True. A lot of people in Hollywood tend to demand more money as seasons progress. I guess that’s the norm. Sofia is definitely talented. I can’t take that away from her. I just can’t help but think about Desperate Housewives and what happened to their show when their cast demanded more money. Oh, well. I guess it is what it is.
I agree with you that sometimes it comes off as greed, but I also like to keep an open mind about what goes on behind the scenes. It’s very likely that the show is making so much money for the network that the profits are going to the wrong people and the actors should get a bigger cut. I can understand that the actors would want their share when the success is so attributable to what they do. And then, we can hope that they use their millions for good, not evil, in the form of charitable donations etc. :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
Amen to that, Deb! Those writers better be getting paid too! LOL
Otto, I sort of disagree with the idea of “actors and athletes entertain us… so they deserve what they’re paid.” Let’s look at a few other jobs out there that do so much more. Teachers for example…while there are some awful teachers out there who only do their job for often times, a less-than mediocre pay, there are some very good ones and while they may go the extra mile to educate a student, they still must deal with the ever growing horrors of being disrespected by a snot-nosed brat. Teachers go through a lot and don’t get the recognition and pay the deserve. Teachers are sometimes the ones who inspire students to get that high paying job. Entertainment is great and all but millions of dollars is a bit too much…a large portion of that money could go elsewhere. There are far too many things we need to improve on that go beyond entertainment. There are homeless poeple, rundown shelters, run down schools, run down roads, hungry children…and the list goes on. I would feel guilty to earn so much for acting, demand more and then turn on the news and see the world going to hell for being financially strapped. But money is power and people love power even if it mean stripping it away from others. Look, there are construction workers and police officers and firefighters AND military men that put there lives at risk that don’t even make a fraction of that money that some actors and athletes get.
Matt, I agree with you. Teachers are the most underappreciated people in America and there is a political party that is undermining… but I degress. Jaylen writes about entertainment, so I try to stay on topic. My opinion is based on “can-you-get-my-money-out-of-my-pocket” for your TV shows, movies or sports event. Would I pay Sofia Vergara, and her castmates, what they asked. No. But, enough for us all to walk away happy and for the show to continue.
Three years ago the Modern Family crew was probably thrilled to death their pilot was picked up and that they might have steady work for a year..now they are making huge salary demands. As long as the show has advertisers though the networks will keep paying it. The advertisers just raise their prices and you and I are giving the cast their raise!
This is the same situation as sports players. How can they deserve the millions of dollars that some of these players are getting paid for even one year. But in sports..the prices to go to a game are outrageous because of it. You can’t afford to take you and the kids to a game and buy them food. The food could cost more than the ticket! Sorry for the tangent.
*POST AUTHOR*
No need to apologize, Toni. I agree with you. As an NBA fan, I was really upset when the players demanded more money last year. I thought it was outrageous. I’m sure that the Modern Family cast was relieved to be employed when the show first began, but now that they know the show is a hit, they want more moolah. Why not be content with what they are making? Maybe there are other things going on behind the scenes that we just don’t know about.
Sofia Vergara never talked with heavy accent till later
She was in a movie called The 24th Day in year 2004 she spoke perfect english
*POST AUTHOR*
I wonder if she amps her accent up on purpose. Maybe the director tells her to do so. I never had a problem with it. I think it makes her unique. Maybe Sofia was speaking perfect English in that movie because she was using an accent…kinda like when Australian actress Nicole Kidman plays an American, ya know?