The actress, producer and director took her fame and her net worth to new heights thanks to The Handmaid’s Tale. One of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, Moss graduated from commercials and supporting roles to superstardom, carrying not just the Hulu hit, but also blockbusters like 2020’s The Invisible Man. Not bad for a woman who initially wanted to be a ballet dancer when she grew up! “I wasn’t sure which one I was going to do," she told Parade of her dueling passions for dance and acting. “I trained in ballet really intensely for many years. I thought that was the direction I wanted to go but I was always acting at the same time and when I was about 15, I kind of realized that acting was the passion that won out.” When you see Elisabeth Moss’ net worth, you’ll understand why we think it’s safe to say her decision worked out. Here’s how she made mad money, from Mad Men to Gilead and beyond!
How much is Elisabeth Moss worth?
Moss’ net worth is estimated to be $30 million.
Elisabeth Moss got her start as a child star and in commercials
Moss had her first professional role at just six years old starred in the miniseries Lucky/Chances in 1990 when she was eight. Throughout the early 1990s, she went on to appear in television projects like Disney’s remake of Escape to Witch Mountain. She also had quite a bit of voiceover work in animated series, including Frosty Returns; Animaniacs; Batman: The Animated Series; It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown and Freakazoid. Moss started out with dreams of becoming a dancer before she got the acting bug. “Why an artist loves what they do is often so hard to describe. Why a musician loves playing jazz, or classical music, or what makes them happy, and why an artist likes to paint. It’s so hard to actually put into words what that feeling is of joy that we get, but that is what I get, a feeling of joy when the camera is rolling, even if I’m doing something that is not joyous,” she gushed to Parade. “I also love the collaborative aspect of it. Ever since I was 15, when I did my first movie by myself, where my mom wasn’t there and I had a guardian, I got to know the crew, and I got to be part of a group and a family. I love that part of it, the friendships that you make.” Moss also appeared in commercials, her most successful being for Excedrin Migraine that ran for years. Moss toldThe New York Times Magazine of the ubiquity of the pain reliever commercial, “It played for like five years off and on. It was a good ad and a good performance, but if the person becomes recognizable, I would think that would work against you, because you want a normal person.”
The Invisible Man cemented Elisabeth Moss as a bona fide box office draw
One of Moss’ first roles ever was alongside none other than Hulk Hogan in Suburban Commando when she was just 9 years old. Her breakout movie role came in 1999’s Girl, Interrupted, in which she played a burn victim and pathological liar named Polly alongside heavy-hitters Angelina Jolie, Winona Ryder, Whoopi Goldbergand Brittany Murphy. Her filmography since has been stellar, as, for the most part, have her box office returns (especially considering she does a lot of independent films):
Us ($255 million)The Kitchen ($16 million on a $38 million budget, one of her few bombs)Get Him to the Greek ($92 million)Girl, Interrupted ($8.1 million)Did You Hear About the Morgans? ($85 million)A Thousand Acres ($2.9 million)The Old Man & the Gun ($18 million)Truth ($875,935)On the Road ($9.6 million)Her Smell ($260,000)Chuck ($34,565)
The Invisible Man, released just as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world, cemented Moss as an A-lister. The psychological horror film, in which Moss plays a domestic abuse survivor being tormented by her unseen ex, opened with $28 million on a $7 million budget and grossed $143 million worldwide. Also released in 2020, Moss’ film Shirley only grossed $259,000, but was a small-budget indie released at the height of the pandemic.
Mad Men and The West Wing made Elisabeth Moss a household name
Moss isn’t just a marquee name in movies. Television is what propelled Moss to superstardom. Moss appeared as recurring character Zoey Bartlet, the president’s daughter (and keeper of an infamous “panic button”), on The West Wing. When she was 23, Moss starred in a pilot for a little show you may have heard of: Mad Men. She slayed the role of Peggy Olson, secretary-turned-copywriter, for nearly a decade. She told Paradeit was a learning experience, and that her most important lesson was to be herself while simultaneously playing a character: “Follow your heart and trust your instincts. You don’t know what’s going to work; you don’t know what people are going to respond to. You just have to do what you like and what you think you would watch.” While not all of her Mad Men salary is known, in 2015 her salary for the AMC smash was estimated to be $75,000 per episode. She also won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work as Olson, which likely significantly upped her value.
Elisabeth Moss makes bank behind the scenes, too
Moss has producing and directing credits on projects as well, including The Handmaid’s Tale. It allows her to flex different creative muscles while also commanding a higher salary. She’s produced not just episodes of the show, but also films Shirley, Queen of Earth, On the Nature of Daylight, Her Smell, Run Rabbit Run, Mrs. March and A Letter From Rose Kennedy, in all of which she’s also the star. She will also executive producer and star in the thriller series Candy and Fever and as Katie Hill in the TV movie She Will Rise. She also produced the 2018 film Ballet Now. “Producing has been a whole other wonderful addition to everything,” she gushed to Parade. It has only made me appreciate the acting so much more. It has only, I feel, made my experience of acting so much deeper.”
Elisabeth Moss’ The Handmaid’s Tale salary made her one of the highest-paid actresses in the world
After Mad Men concluded its run in 2015, Moss debuted her role as June/Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, moving from a supporting role to a lead. When the series debuted, Moss pocketed a cool $175,000 per episode, but since then her salary has jumped in a major way: She now makes $1 million per episode of the dystopian Hulu series, thanks not just to her being the lead, but also to her directing and executive producing credits. “I didn’t think I’d sign on to another show so quickly, but I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to say no to this. I’m going to have to do it,’” she recalled to Parade. “The thing that finally pushed it over the edge was the idea of anyone else doing the role, and how jealous I would be if anyone else got to do it. For actors, that often pushes you over the edge. It’s a good sign. That’s what you look for. I asked to see the second episode, and the second episode was even better than the first one, and then I knew.” Her work on The Handmaid’s Tale combined with her other projects earned Moss a reported $24 million in 2019 and $16 million in 2020. Moss still hasn’t quite gotten used to the attention she receives from her work on the show. “We get excited when the cheese and cracker tray comes by. Like, that’s the highlight of the day. All of this is something that you almost forget about, because you’re just so absorbed in making the best show possible,” she said. “That’s the most important thing. I actually really value that because it is very centering and grounding. Then you come to L.A. and you meet all these nice people, and all these fancy celebrities, and everyone says nice things to you. All of a sudden you learn that Patrick Stewart or Gary Oldman is watching the show. You’re like, ‘I cannot believe Patrick Stewart knows who I am.’ There is definitely that element of it that is surprising. You forget about the outside world when you’re working.” Next, find out Tyler Perry’s net worth.
