There are so many actors from the 1990s and early ‘00s who deserved to have bigger careers, or deserved to keep working consistently into their 40s and 50s. There are so many actors who had legitimately big-deal careers in ‘90s franchises or successful shows and now they’re barely scraping by. Which brings me to Andrew Keegan. Maybe not the biggest name from the time period in question, but certainly someone who worked consistently in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. Nowadays, his residual checks from all of those films and TV shows are literally pennies.

Andrew Keegan is sharing details of his unreliable residual checks from movies and TV shows.

“I think it’s really funny because I’ll get different shows obviously, but I’ll get one cent checks and it costs like 40 cents to send,” the actor, now 47, said during a recent episode of The McBride Rewind, adding, “One cent is not worth my time.”

Keegan is best known for his role in 1999 romcom “10 Things I Hate About You” opposite Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. He noted that he’s probably seen the highest amount in residuals from the iconic teen comedy.

“I think ’10 Things’ is the biggest residuals,” he divulged. “There are still residuals that come from all those shows, like $10, $20, $50, $80, right?”

At the height of his fame, Keegan appeared in a number of high profile TV series and movies.
He appeared on “7th Heaven” from 1997 to 2002, as well as “Party of Five” from 1997 to 1998. In more recent years, he appeared in “CSI: New York” in 2010 and “Related” from 2005 to 2006.
Keegan also had roles in “Independence Day” (1996) and “The Broken Hearts Club” (2000), among many others.

Celebrity residuals can indeed be unpredictable — while some stars haven’t pulled in much due to various factors, others boast millions. Forbes revealed back in 2013 that Ray Romano rakes in $18 million per year for his sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which ran from 1996 to 2005.

But a number of celebrities have more recently shared their shocking residuals stories, divulging they don’t earn much at all for their past work on various memorable TV shows. “Who’s the Boss” alum Danny Pintauro, now 50, shared insight on why he now works as an Amazon Flex delivery driver in between acting auditions.

“Pretty much everyone misunderstands what residuals mean,” he said during an interview with Fox News earlier this month. It’s crazy to me. People always assume that if they recognize you, you must be financially set for your life, and that’s just not how it works.” Pintauro explained that he’s “getting five to six cents per episode,” of the 1984 to 1992 sitcom, adding that “they can air it as many times as they want and I don’t get paid anymore.”

Jodie Sweetin of “Full House,” meanwhile, shared last month on the “McBride Rewind” that she “got a one-cent check the other day.” Sweetin, 44, added, “There’s no syndication anymore because it’s all in streaming. Who gets paid for that? Nobody gets paid for that.”

Lisa Kudrow, however — whose mega-hit “Friends” ran from 1994 to 2004 — continues to receive handsome amounts in residuals. The actress, 62, told the Times of London last month that she and her famous co-stars from the NBC comedy still make $20 million per year in residuals.

[From Page Six]

I believe Keegan, just as I believe the other actors who describe getting those one-penny checks. That was part of the 2023 SAG strike too, actors are mad as hell that streaming has ruined the residual system which used to offer more financial support. Supposedly, SAG-Aftra came up with some kind of terms on residuals for streaming, but it’s clearly a broken system. I’m not surprised that Ray Romano and the Friends cast still get lucrative residuals though – they had those terms built into their contracts at the time AND reruns of those shows still air (to this day) on cable television. Still, it’s wild that Keegan was in some bigger stuff and his residuals are less than $100.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.