Original Power Rangers star Walter Emanuel Jones has revealed exactly how much he and the other actors were offered by 20th Century Fox to star in three movies — and the amount is beyond pitiful.
For reference, Walter was 26 years old when he originated the role of Zack Taylor, aka Black Ranger, on the hit TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993, but he and two of his castmates famously quit their roles in 1995 over a pay dispute.
And during a recent episode of Pod Meets World, Walter, now 55, revealed the exact details of this dispute, and it is seriously shocking, to say the least.
First of all, Walter shared his joy at being the “first Black superhero,” as he explained that he and the other actors did all of their own stunts on the show while being paid less than the actors’ union rate. In addition, the shooting schedule was “crazy,” with the actor explaining that they would sometimes do “15-hour days.”
Reflecting on how successful the show was, Walter recalled seeing his face on magazine covers, telling the hosts: “I’m like: ‘That’s me! That’s so weird!’ The only thing was, I was broke! I couldn’t buy the magazine!”
When pressed, Walter said that they weren’t getting paid “even close” to the network union rate, adding: “And when we signed the contracts, we knew it was a non-union contract, and me being 26, I knew it was a bad contract. But 40 episodes, it was a good trade.”
He explained that he hoped that the experience would make him grow as an actor, as well as help him get his SAG card. “It became the biggest kids’ show in 40 countries, and they made a billion dollars in the first season,” Walter recalled. “So second season, you figure, they made a billion dollars… they’re gonna take care of our share.”
But while the cast received “a little bump,” their salary was still “way under SAG wages.” And then, the cast were told that 20th Century Fox was planning to turn the TV series into a movie. “‘They want to use all you guys, we’ve already guaranteed them you, you are the guys they want, and they’re going to do new suits, it’s going to be this multi-million-dollar movie, and it’s gonna be amazing,’” Walter recalled the show’s producers telling them. “It was like: ‘Oh man, here we go — a movie! We’re gonna do a big movie, with a real budget, it’s so exciting!’”
“Then we got the contract,” Walter began. “And the contract was for three movies, not just one, and the first movie was, like, $17,500. The second one is gonna be, like $23,000, the third was $27,000.”
To reiterate, in addition to the acting, the Power Rangers’ stars were doing all of their own stunts, with Walter saying elsewhere in the episode: “I’m doing stunts! I’m fighting! I’m doing all the physical activity that you would pay a stunt man to do!”
As the podcast hosts expressed their complete shock at the salary offer, Walter continued: “I was like: ‘You made a billion dollars, you can’t even make it SAG? Make it SAG so it’s fair! If it’s fair, then we’ll be happy.’”
“I don’t need to be a multi-millionaire,” he went on. “I’m not asking for five of that $125 million budget, just give me what you would give a lead actor on a popular TV show, a popular movie. And it didn’t work out.”
Walter then detailed how he, Thuy Trang, who played Yellow Ranger, and Austin St. John, who played Red Ranger, got a lawyer to help negotiate the contract, sharing that they also tried to enlist the other three Power Rangers actors, but they did not want to join the fight.
“We ended up finding a lawyer and a manager that was working with three of us, we asked the other guys to join, they decided not to,” he explained. “When our first season was over, we walked off the set, entered negotiations to get a better contract. We started doing car shows, and we would do a car show and make more in that weekend than we had made an entire season.”
Walter also recalled the “pandemonium” of having toys made out of his character, and learning just how popular the show was around the globe. Despite all of this, Saban Entertainment refused to budge on the three actors’ contracts, and they all ended up leaving the series halfway through Season 2, and were ultimately replaced.
For what it’s worth, Johnny Yong Bosch played Black Ranger in the 1995 movie, Karan Ashley Yellow Ranger, and Steve Cardenas Red Ranger.
Despite everything, Walter said that he “wouldn’t trade” his experience on the show, adding: ‘I would do it again if I had to. I would have, again, tried to renegotiate the contract, and convince everybody to do it with us, because we had standing power.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m still absolutely gagged by those movie payment offers. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
