Ever since Hollywood’s early years, child stars such as Shirley Temple and Jackie Coogan have been household names. Their salaries too have gone up steadily over the years. Recently, it was announced that a 17-year-old broke the record for the highest-paid child star earning $10 million for a single job—far more than many Hollywood superstars.
A Record-Breaking Payday
In July 2022, there were reports that Millie Bobby Brown received $10 million for her appearance in Enola Holmes 2′, during which she also worked as a co-producer. She was 17 at the time of production, the largest paycheck received by a child actor. Further reports later said that as early as in Season 3 of ‘Stranger Things’, when she was 14 years old, she was being paid $250,000 an episode, and that summed up to $2 million for the season.
This enormous payday placed Millie in 2022 as earning more than Hollywood A-listers like Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, who reportedly took home between $6-8 million for ‘Dune’. Even such veteran actors as Nicole Kidman are reported to earn less than $10 million per movie nowadays.
Millie Bobby Brown on Salary Leaks
In a recent sit-down with ‘Vanity Fair’, the then 22-year-old spoke about the predicament of child actors having their pay revealed. She did not like the detail of contracts getting leaked, particularly when minors are involved.
“Only it places kids in a pretty unsafe position,” she added. “I feel that everyone’s a bit too relaxed about the manner in which children are raised within the business. I grew up with loads of people looking at my parents, but I feel that they were the people who looked out for me the most.”
Millie Bobby Brown’s Career
Millie became a household name at the age of 11 with Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ in 2016. She has remained part of the show, which wraps up this year. Aside from TV, she has established herself as a solid film career, appearing in top-grossing blockbusters such as ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ and ‘The Electric State’, as well as streaming successes such as ‘Enola Holmes’ and ‘Damsel’, where she was also an executive producer.