Yahoo Lifestyle Lisa Ann Walter Reveals What She Bought with Her “Abbott Elementary” Pay Raise: ‘I Couldn’t Afford It’ Before (Exclusive)
Addressing the cast’s reported pay bumps ahead of season 4, the actress told PEOPLE, “Yes, we got a little more money”
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Lisa Ann Walter in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2024Lisa Ann Walter is a homeowner again!
The actress, 61, told PEOPLE at Warner Bros. Television Group's Fall TV event with Fenty Beauty in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 10, how she’s been spending some of her Abbott Elementary salary, including buying a house.
“Yes, we got a little more money in there and all the Hot Pockets we could eat,” Walter said jokingly when asked about the significant pay raises that the Abbott Elementary cast reportedly earned ahead of season 4.
“This year, I did something that I had not been able to do in many, many years since the divorce took the last one — and that’s buy myself a house,” she continues. “I couldn't afford it in Los Angeles, even being a working actress.”
Walter has lived in the house for only one week and has “already had a flood and had to replace the water heater,” she adds.
Chris Polk/getty
Quinta Brunson and Lisa Ann Walter on Oct. 10, 2024According to Deadline, the main cast renegotiated their contracts, with some cast members doubling or tripling their previous paychecks.
Walter, Janelle James and Chris Perfetti will now make $200,000 per episode, while Tyler James Williams and Sheryl Lee Ralph will earn $250,000, the site reported. Show creator Quinta Brunson’s acting salary reportedly rose to somewhere between $350,000 and $400,000 per episode, Deadline shared.
Walter plays second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti on the popular ABC sitcom. Between filming seasons, Walter spends time with her family.
“Last year, I did something for my family that I had not been able to do in, say, 15 years, and that was take them on a vacation,” the Parent Trap star explains. “It was a really nice vacation [in Europe].”
“I went to Sicily with my sister [Laura], and we saw the birthplace of my ancestors,” says Walter, who is of Sicilian and Alsatian descent.
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Lisa Ann Walter on Oct. 10, 2024Related: Abbott Elementary's Lisa Ann Walter Says She 'Let Go' of 1 'Fantasy' Dating in Her 60s (Exclusive)
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The vacation continued with her kids, their significant others and Walter’s first husband, Sam Baum, in Rome and Venice, before more stops.
“Then we went to Florence, and they were totally enraptured with the art and the history,” Walter says. “I feel like they got a lot out of it, and then we went to Lyon and ended up a week in Paris, where the other side of my family is from. So, I count it as an educational trip. We ate and drank and went to shows and museums, and it was glorious.”
Season 4 of Abbott Elementary premiered on Oct. 9 on ABC with new episodes arriving every Wednesday. Seasons 1 to 3 are on Hulu.
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