According to Deadline, the stars of the hit Netflix series, Never Have I Ever, are seeking new deals as production gears up for the third season. The season’s first table read is scheduled for Monday as salary negotiations continue with Netflix and Universal Television.
Newcomer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Darren Barnet (Love Hard), Jaren Lewison (Away & Back), Richa Moorjani (X: The Past is Present), Lee Rodriguez (Class of Lies), and Ramona Young (Blockers) are requesting pay raises ahead of season three.
According to Deadline, cast members are still expected to attend the virtual table read despite none of them reaching agreements from two weeks of negotiation. Star Ramakrishnan is negotiating solo and seeking pay raises that separate her from the rest of the cast. She was given $21,000 season one, then bumped to $26,250 per episode for season two, and was given a $10,000 bonus before the season two premiere this summer.
Barnet and Levison, the two male leads, were on the same salary tier but were not given a bonus.
The highest-paid member on the cast is Poorna Jagannathan (Big Little Lies), who plays Devi’s mother and is the most experienced on the cast.
Sources to Deadline say that Ramakrishnan is requesting a salary similar to Jagannathan. Barnet is negotiating separately, requesting a salary in line with Ramarkirshnan. Lewison, Moorjani, Rodriguez, and Young are all negotiating together, and they initially sought $15,000 per episode for season three.
Universal TV is negotiating with Jagannathan and Ramakrishnan on the top tier, and the rest of the cast on the second tier. The second tier is said to receive $65,000 an episode.
Salary negotiations are not new for the streamer. They usually take place around the third season as the original series’s lifespan rarely stretches beyond a third or fourth season. The cast of On My Block experienced the same thing around the start of their third season, as well as the cast of Stranger Things ahead of its third season.
Never Have I Ever was renewed for season three in August after the success of season two. The series received 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and the cast received increased popularity from the series as well.
Never Have I Ever can be streamed on Netflix.