Love/Hate star Laurence Kinlan has revealed the cast of the hit show are still paid the same as they got in the first season.
The RTE series – which has just finished filming its fifth series – now gets more than a million viewers per episode.
But Laurence, who plays Elmo, told Goss.ie that the cast have been warned not to ask for pay rises and admitted: “It’s a tough one.”
“No, it isn’t a bigger budget. It’s all the same. It’s all the same people from day one,” he said.
Hitting the course: Laurence at the Marie Keating Golf Day | KIERAN HARNETT
“No-one was looking for pay rises or anything like that – because they knew if they did they weren’t going to get anything.”
The TV star added that “everyone thinks you’re loaded no matter what” despite not being flush with cash after the series – and hasn’t been able to make loads of money on the back of Love/Hate.
“Some projects just don’t have the money. You do them because you want to or you like what the director has done before,” he said.
“It certainly doesn’t help in the sense that people believe you’ve done that successful show so the offers flood in.
Family: Laurence Kinlan and son Oren at premiere | BRIAN MCEVOY
“Before Love/Hate I’d done enough work that you’d be offered the odd thing. You always get offered the stuff that isn’t amazing.
“Stuff you really want to do is always the stuff you have to audition for.”
And in an exclusive interview with Goss.ie, at the Marie Keating Foundation Golf Day, Laurence said that Love/Hate has a maximum of two years to go.
“I think a lot of the big shows, especially in America, have gone on to series six and seven. And any more than that people start getting ready for it to be done,” he explained.
“I think it could go on – but for how long I don’t know. Another year or two, then call it quits.”
Cast: With Tom Vaughan Lawlor and Killian Scott | VIPIRELAND.COM
But Laurence has vowed never to quit – even though he fears never being able to escape the part of Elmo.
“This is a worry of any big TV role, when you’re doing six episodes over five seasons that you might get typecast. I think that’s every actor’s fear,” he said.
“But with this show – because we’re not in everyone’s living rooms every night of the week – it goes away a bit.
“It’s hard too, because you don’t want to walk away from something like this. The work is so good.
“People sometimes back out of something because they want to explore something else. I’m very happy doing Love/Hate. It’s an amazing show.”
