Mostly no: screen actors don't get royalties like authors do. On SAG-AFTRA jobs they get residuals, payments set by the union contract each time the work is reused beyond its first use, while non-union jobs basically never pay them. Here is how residuals differ from royalties and backend, how they work for TV, film, streaming and commercials, and how they're paid, checked on sagaftra.org as of November 2026.
On this page
Not in the way authors or songwriters do. Screen actors on union jobs get residuals: payments set by the union contract when the work is reused beyond what the original pay covered, such as a rerun, a sale to another market or a move to streaming. People often call them royalties, but they're a different system.
SAG-AFTRA's residuals page describes them as payments that members and non-members earn through their work on SAG-AFTRA contracts. Our understanding residuals guide explains when they start in each market.
Producer Shaked Berenson draws the line clearly in our library. Residuals are negotiated collectively by the unions and paid "from the top", from the film's revenue, whether or not it makes a profit. Backend, or points, is a share of whatever profit is left after the money to finance, market and distribute the film is recouped.
He lists four ways actors are paid on a feature: salary, credit and billing, backend, and residuals for union members. Backend usually takes leverage to negotiate.
There's also a third thing that really is called royalties. SAG-AFTRA's foreign royalties page says they come from laws in other countries, adopted in the 1980s, covering uses like private home copying, cable retransmission and video rental, collected by foreign societies and passed on through the union. The union is emphatic that they are "NOT residuals".
Performers hired under SAG-AFTRA contracts that provide for them. As SAG-AFTRA's page puts it, that includes non-members working union jobs. What you don't get is residuals on non-union work: Ben Whitehair, a former SAG-AFTRA vice president, says non-union projects basically never pay them, and calls residuals one of the great benefits of union work.
Residuals also count toward health cover. The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan's covered earnings page includes "applicable residuals" in the earnings that can qualify you; our health insurance page explains the thresholds.
Your first pay cheque covers the first use. A film made for cinemas pays residuals when it later goes to other markets; a TV episode pays when it reruns or is sold elsewhere. SAG-AFTRA's residuals page lists free TV, basic cable, pay cable, video and DVD, new media and theatrical among the markets it processes.
Shaked describes the broad mechanism for features: a percentage of revenue goes into a residuals pool that's divided by how many days each actor worked, so a lead who worked 28 of 30 days gets a bigger share than a day player. He's careful to say he isn't a union expert, and the 2026 TV/Theatrical contract summary does refer to a 3.6% "pool".
Streaming changed too. The 2026 agreement, which runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2030, raises performer residuals when shows move to subscription streaming by an average of 5%, and keeps a success bonus for high budget streaming shows that reach at least 20% of domestic subscribers in their first 90 days.
On union commercials you get paid for the use, not a royalty. Shaan Sharma explains that the only guaranteed money is the session fee for the days you shoot. If the spot airs, residuals and other use payments are triggered; if it never airs, you probably won't see another cent.
Commercial residuals also travel differently. SAG-AFTRA says they're mailed directly by the payroll companies rather than through the union, and Shaan says they often go to your agency first, which deducts commission and forwards your share with a breakdown. Our commercial residuals and commercial pay pages cover the cycles and rates.
A non-union job is usually a one-off fee, sometimes for use "in perpetuity". Shaan warns that this can mean signing your rights away forever: the ad can run anywhere, for as long as the client likes, with no further payment.
It can also block future work: if a non-union fast food ad stays online, he says, other fast food brands may not book you, whereas a union spot comes down once the paid use ends.
Voice work is one place you'll see the word used literally. David H. Lawrence XVII explains that traditional audiobook work, including for the big publishers, pays a one-time fee per finished hour, with no residuals or royalties.
Audible's ACX added royalty share, where narrator and rights holder split the book's earnings, plus a hybrid of a fee and royalty share. The rights holder chooses the model, not the narrator. Our audiobook narrator page goes deeper.
There's no single figure. The amount depends on the contract, the market the work is reused in, how much you were paid and, for features, how long you worked. SAG-AFTRA publishes the formulas in its contracts; we haven't given sample amounts because they vary so widely.
For film, TV and new media, SAG-AFTRA says to expect residuals within 60 days of the union receiving the cheques and the producer's information. Members can track payments in the Residuals Portal and sign up for direct deposit.
If you think money is missing, SAG-AFTRA runs an Unclaimed Residuals Tracker you can search by name. Foreign royalties have their own tracker: amounts of $10 or more go out automatically in the next quarterly distribution, smaller amounts build up until they reach $10.
Sometimes. Shaan says not every residual is commissionable: a primetime rerun of a TV show usually is, while some foreign or internet uses aren't. Know which is which, and never hide residuals from your team. SAG-AFTRA adds that franchised agents can't commission foreign royalties.
A new agent has no claim on old work, Kym says: you don't owe commission on residuals from jobs you booked before you signed. Our agent commission page has the full rules. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; check your contract with the union.
Not for every showing. On SAG-AFTRA films, the first pay covers the first market, and residuals are paid when the film is reused in other markets such as TV, cable, DVD or streaming.
Residuals are union-negotiated payments for reuse of a performance. SAG-AFTRA says foreign royalties, which come from overseas copyright laws and collecting societies, are not residuals.
Non-union projects basically never pay residuals. Non-members working on a SAG-AFTRA contract can earn them, because the contract sets them.
Union actors get residuals from streaming. The 2026 SAG-AFTRA agreement raised residuals for shows moving to subscription streaming by an average of 5% and keeps a success bonus for high-viewership high budget shows.
For film, TV and new media, SAG-AFTRA says to expect residuals within 60 days of the union receiving the producer's payment. Commercial residuals come directly from payroll companies.
They get a session fee and, on union spots that air, residuals and use payments. If the commercial never airs, usually only the session fee is paid.
Residuals are one of the ways the business side of acting pays you long after the shoot. Download Your Free Film Industry Guide to keep learning how the industry works.
Kym's free class: the ten steps, in order, from first class to first booking. Free, just pop in your email.
Get the free classKym's free class for actors who've been at it a while and want things moving again. Free, just pop in your email.
Get the free classWant the whole library? Start your 7-day free trial and watch every answer on this page.
All rates current from sagaftra.org (residuals), sagaftra.org (2026 TV/Theatrical summary) and sagaftra.org (foreign royalties) as of 10 November 2026.