Wil Wheaton has claimed his parents stole his childhood salary (Picture: Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
The Big Bang Theory star Wil Wheaton has claimed his parents stole his childhood salary.
The 50-year-old is joining those striking in Hollywood after weeks of unsuccessful negotiations.
Months after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began their strike, members of US union Sag-Aftra have followed suit, while stars across the globe have shown solidarity including the cast of Oppenheimer left the UK premiere early to ‘write their picket signs’.
After Orange Is The New Blackstars came forward with claims they were not paid fairly for their time, and Gilmore Girls actor Sean Gunn spoke out against Netflix, Wil has also revealed his salary details.
Sharing an image holding picket signs with American actress Cheryl Gates McFadden, Wil wrote: ‘In 1960, SAG and WGA struck to force management to adapt to the new technology of television. Without that strike and the agreement it birthed, residual use payments would not exist.
‘My parents stole nearly all of my salary from my entire childhood.
‘My Star Trek residuals were all I had, and they kept me afloat for two decades while I rebuilt my life.’
Wil played a version of himself in The Big Bang Theory (Picture: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
He went on: ‘I have healthcare and a pension because of my union. The AMPTP billionaires want to take all that security away so they can give CEOs even more grotesque wealth at the expense of the people who make our industry run.
‘To give some sense of what is at stake: There are actors who star in massively successful, profitable, critically acclaimed shows that are all on streaming services. You see them all the time. They are famous, A-list celebrities. Nearly all of those actors don’t earn enough to qualify for health insurance, because the studios forced them to accept a buyout for all their residuals (decade of reuse, at the least) that is less than I earned for one week on TNG. And I was the lowest paid cast member in 1988. They want to do this while studio profits and CEO compensation are at historic highs.
‘I mean, if not now, when? And I haven’t even touched on AI and working conditions.
‘We must fight for the future of our industry in the face of changing technology, the same way our elders did in 1960. So today, my Spacemom and I went to the place where it started for us, way back when, to do just that.’
He concluded his lengthy caption showing gratitude to those supporting him and other Hollywood stars on strike and speaking out, saying: ‘It means so much. Thank you.’
His first appearances were in Star Trek (Picture: David Livingston/Getty Images)
Wil played Wesley Crusher in the Star Trek franchise, first appearing in 1987 and starring regularly in the first four seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
He went on to play a fictional version of himself in The Big Bang Theory as well as holding voice acting roles in the likes of Ben 10 and Teen Titans.
This comes after Wil opened up to Metro.co.uk about his relationship with acting, explaining that he now finds it ‘triggering and traumatic’ after being ‘forced’ into the industry as a child.
He said in a 2020 interview: ‘I’m not especially interested in being an on-camera actor, that was never my choice.
‘When I was a kid my parents forced me to become an actor, it was never something I wanted to do.
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‘Throughout my entire childhood I begged my mother to stop forcing me to go on auditions, to just let me be a kid and she never heard me.
‘It was really important to her that I become famous so she could be the famous actor’s momager and it sucked.
‘That choice cost me my relationship with my parents and as a consequence of that, I don’t really enjoy on-camera acting. It’s a little triggering and a little traumatic.’
Wil, who was starring in Rent-A-Pal at the time, continued: ‘If I had been supported by my parents instead of manipulated and controlled by them, I would be sharing this with them right now and I’m not because they didn’t support my dreams on this at all.’
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‘My parents stole nearly all of my salary from my entire childhood.’
