Josh Peck revealed on the Financial Tea with Mrs. Dow Jones podcast that he and his Drake & Josh castmates made far less money on the Nickelodeon series than fans might imagine, taking home about $125,000 a year during the show’s four-year run.
Peck told the podcast host that the cast earned $3,000 per episode on “The Amanda Show” before moving on to “Drake and Josh,” which has a total of 60 episodes. By the time the show ended, the average fee per episode had risen to about $15,000.
“I ended up making about $900,000 in four years, and I think I probably cleared half of that with my agent, manager and taxes,” Peck said.
After four years of steady work, Peck estimated his annual take-home pay to be about $125,000. He noted that the program did not produce any residue, and said this was the standard structure for children’s television at the time.
Peck said the cast has little leverage in negotiations because Nickelodeon is essentially the only outlet for young performers operating at that level. The host gave an example of the cast of “Friends” engaging in collective bargaining, comparing it to the cast of “Gilmore Girls,” and said that they received less pay because they did not negotiate together.
“It was a different time, and I think… there was only one kind of place to do it, right?” Peck said. He added that he and his colleagues accepted this arrangement because there was no alternative network, streaming platform, or other means to move the work elsewhere.
Peck, who grew up with a single mother and said her family oscillated between being below middle class and being penniless, said becoming the household’s primary breadwinner as a teenager led to lingering financial insecurity. He said the experience led him to stick to small expenses even after his income increased significantly.
He credits Dan, his mother, accountant, and Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor for helping him develop long-term financial habits centered around low-cost index fund investing rather than risky swings. Peck said she chose not to buy a home until she was in her mid-30s to maintain a financial cushion in case her job became unstable.
Peck began his career as a children’s stand-up comedian in New York before turning to acting, making his debut in the film Snow Day in 2000 and joining Nickelodeon’s sketch series The Amanda Show the same year, where he first co-starred with Drake Bell. He gained attention from critics in the 2004 drama Mean Creek, and voiced Eddie in the Ice Age series from 2006 to 2016, and Casey Jones in the Nickelodeon animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from 2012 to 2017. Other credits include “The Wackness,” “Red Dawn,” and a role opposite John in the Fox series “The Grandfather.” Stamos, the Disney+ series “Turner & Hooch,” Hulu’s “How I Met Your Father,” and supporting roles in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”
Peck, who currently hosts the Good Guys Podcast, continues to accept acting and brand deals, which he says he selectively turns down in order to continue working for his family.
