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Have you ever wondered how much your favorite soap star makes? You’re not alone. When it comes to filming and production, soaps are unique. The episodes air five days per week for an hour, so a lot of time onset is required. One can’t help but wonder how much the cast is paid for all that time.

Katherine Kelly Lang has played the role of Brooke Logan on The Bold and the Beautiful since 1987. Brooke is certainly an integral part of the show, and Lang has an impressive claim to fame as one of the show’s four core characters.

So how much does she make in a day? According to multiple sources, it’s a pretty generous paycheck. But it may not be as much as you think.

Soap stars are paid per episode 

Soap stars are paid in accordance with the SAG-AFTRA rate sheets. So there is certainly an industry minimum. But it takes some experience to bring home a solid paycheck if you work on a soap opera.

If you’re unknown, you can expect to make less than $1,000 per episode. And many cast members are hired with the intent of filming only a few episodes. Background actors tend to make around $200 per day. 

However, the more experienced the soap actor, the more they can get in their contract. Many longtime soap veterans have net worths well into the millions. So it’s safe to say that steady work pays off in this industry.

So, how much does Katherine Kelly Lang earn on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’?

Patrick Duffy as Stephen Logan and Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke Logan film a scene on The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful stars Patrick Duffy and Katherine Kelly Lang | Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images

If online sources are correct, Lang earns around $3,000 per episode. Her net worth is listed at around $12 million, which makes sense if she’s been a top earner for a while.

While there is no official public breakdown of what each cast member makes, other sources list her rate as $3,000 per episode as well. 

While Lang’s earnings are on the higher end of what most veteran soap stars make, she’s not the highest-paid soap actor in the industry. Some, like Eric Braeden of The Young and the Restless fame, earn $5,000 per episode. And some make even more. 

Why are soap opera actors often paid less than prime-time actors? 

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By any means, $3,000 per day is a substantial salary. But given everything soap stars have to do to earn it, from memorizing pages and pages of lines to being expected to shoot scenes in a single take, it may seem like they should make much more. So, why are soap opera actors typically paid less than prime-time actors?

The fact is, soap operas are not cheap to make. And there are only a few left on the air. While soaps do get more viewers than talk shows, daytime TV ratings in general are not what they used to be.

Prime time actors are often paid more per episode than a daytime TV actor, reports Marketplace, but in the end, a soap star may get a better deal. More episodes air per week, so it’s steady work. And the actors can request more money each time they renew a contract. The industry isn’t easy, but hard work pays off.