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Small screen holds big appeal for A-listers
From Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep to Reese Witherspoon and Michael Douglas, Hollywood film stars are being lured to TV by higher production values, massive paydays and wider opportunities. Once the vastly poorer cousin of films, the small screen has enjoyed a stunning renaissance with the bingewatching generation swapping trips to multiplexes for nights on the couch. And Hollywood’s top Alisters are making the same switch. Director Michael Mann said that the quality of TV in the US has now overtaken that of movies in many cases. “The perception here was quite parochial — you were categorised as one thing or another,” he told AFP. “It was cinema looking down on TV, for good reason, because TV was abysmal. Today, some of the best writing is going on TV,” Mann added.
Elsewhere, Jim Carrey has starred in Showtime TV comedy Kidding, Roberts fronted Homecoming, and Douglas signed up for an Emmy-nominated turn in The Kominsky Method.
The staggering financial incentives of crossing over to television are also clear. The TV streaming networks are expected to spend $27 billion this year on content, according to a recent FilmLA report. That is approximately the combined budget of the top 130 most expensive feature films ever made, meaning colossal fees are possible for established marquee stars who make the switch.
Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are reportedly earning $2 million each per episode for The Morning Show. It has already been granted a second 10-episode season. “The impact that digital streaming services are having on the television and entertainment industry cannot be overstated,” the FilmLA report said.
Witherspoon had already converted to television, appearing in Big Little Lies opposite Streep, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Zoe Kravitz. Witherspoon said she was drawn to TV because it offered diverse opportunities, particularly for older actors and minorities, than traditionally white, maledominated Hollywood studios. “And the idea that streaming services have empirical data that audiences want to see people of different ages, different backgrounds, creating an opportunity for new voices and storytellers,” she added.