You Won't Believe Angela Bassett's Jaw-Dropping New Salary for 9-1-1

Ahead of season five, Angela Bassett reportedly locked in an impressive and groundbreaking pay bump for her role in Fox's 9-1-1. Find out the well-earned amount!

By Alyssa Ray Aug 03, 2021 11:54 PMTags
Watch: Angela Bassett Remembers Chadwick Boseman at 2021 Golden Globes

Angela Bassett knows her worth.

On Tuesday, August 3, Deadline reported that the 9-1-1 actress locked in a notable pay increase ahead of the fifth season's premiere, which debuts on Fox Sept. 20. Per the publication, the 62-year-old performer, who leads the procedural as LAPD patrol sergeant Athena Grant-Nash, will now take home "north of $450,000 an episode."

Yes, you read that correctly. This sum is headline-making for a couple of reasons. For starters, as Deadline highlighted, this salary is one of the biggest in the industry for network TV actors. Not to mention, it's believed that this is the highest salary ever for an actress of color on a broadcast drama.

(For the record, we say broadcast as Kerry Washington brought home over a million dollars for each episode of Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere.)

And while the amount is certainly jaw-dropping, there's no doubt that it's well earned. Prior to her work on 9-1-1, where Bassett serves as star and executive producer, she made a name for herself starring in notable films and television shows.

photos
Top TV Star Salaries: You Won't Believe Who's No. 1

Bassett's breakthrough role as Tina Turner in the 1993 biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It, earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards and a Golden Globe win. Of course, she didn't stop there as she went on to star in other popular projects, such as How Stella Got Her Groove Back, American Horror Story: Coven, Black Panther and more.

Bassett also serves an executive producer for 9-1-1's spinoff, 9-1-1: Lone Star. So, like we said, this reported sum is well deserved.

Fox

As for her co-stars on the Ryan Murphy hit? It's said that Peter Krause received a 25 percent increase, bringing him near "the low $300K per episode range." Apparently, Jennifer Love Hewitt's salary follows shortly behind that amount.

It's safe to say negotiations went well for the 9-1-1 cast.

Watch: Angela Bassett Shares Her Deep Connection to Music at 2021 Oscars

For those unfamiliar with the series, 9-1-1 "explores the high-pressure experiences of first responders—including police officers, firefighters and dispatchers—who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping situations," per Fox.

9-1-1 season five premieres Monday, September 20 at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Get the drama behind the scenes. Sign up for TV Scoop!