Michael Becker/FXThe cast of Nip/Tuck is looking for an extreme paycheck makeover.
As shooting on the sixth and final season kicks off today, reps for stars Julian McMahon, Dylan Walsh, Joely Richardson, Kelly Carlson and Roma Maffia are in the midst of tense negotiations with producers of the hit FX series.
McMahon and Walsh's agents are said to be asking for $250,000-per-episode for playing plastic surgeon pals Christian Troy and Sean McNamara. That's approximately double their compensation for season five in 2007, per the Hollywood Reporter.
The remaining regulars are also reportedly eyeing pay raises. Richardson, for instance, hopes to up the $100,000-per-episode she earned for last year, the trade reports.
Because the Nip/Tuck cast is contracted through Warner Bros. TV, which produces the show, attorneys for the actors are in talks with FX honchos about compensating the cast with big bonuses, similar to last year. The hitch appears to be how much the cable net's willing to pony up.
So far, there have been no walkouts among the actors, although McMahon was MIA for a wardrobe appointment last week.
A publicist for FX declined to address the negotiations. Martin Singer, the high-powered legal eagle repping stars McMahon and Walsh, was not immediately available for comment.
The stars reportedly believe that because Ryan Murphy's plastic surgery drama won't wrap up until 2011, other producers have held off from casting the actors in other roles while Nip/Tuck is still on the air.
Speaking of casting, EW.com reported last week that Rose McGowan will replace Katee Sackhoff in the role of fellow doctor and McNamara's object of affection Theodora "Teddy" Lowe. Sackhoff just landed a deal to star in Dick Wolf's new cop drama, Lost and Found. This will be McGowan's first TV role since Charmed ended its run in 2006.
The remaining eight episodes of season five are expected to debut in January 2009, while the first of the 19 episodes comprising Nip/Tuck's swan-song season will premiere in 2010.