He’s been working since he was 5, broke into show business starring opposite Sharon Stone and he’s got to be home by 10.
Angus T. Jones — the “half” in “Two and a Half Men” —is the highest paid kid on TV.
Just as the school year is coming to an end, The Post conducted a survey of casting agents, talent agents and TV execs to determine TV’s richest child actors.
Along with Miranda Cosgrove, the willowy star of “iCarly,” Jones is in elite group of kids who can’t drive — but who make enough to buy a new Porsche every week.
“People have misconceptions about how much these kids get paid,” says one agent who specializes in young, young actors.
Even some of the biggest teen stars don’t make that much from TV.
While superstar Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”) pulls in roughly $15,000 per episode, according to sources — a low salary for such a big star — she makes five times that much for a single concert. And that’s not including CD sales and her now-burgeoning movie career.
“Miley is worth a billion — but she’s not making a billion on TV,” says a high-placed industry source. “But her franchise is worth a billion.”
“People think there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” for young TV stars, says Hollywood talent agent Jackie Lewis, who represents a bevy of young TV actors.
“But let’s think about the commissions given out once they get that pot of gold: Ten percent goes to the agent; 10-15 percent goes to the manager and 15 percent goes to the Coogan Account,” she says, alluding to the trust fund that by California state law must be established for underage actors and that they cannot touch until they’re 21.
“And then there’s taxes,” she adds.
“So even if a kid is making $25,000 a week, he or she may see only 30 or 40 percent of that money.”
And there’s no big difference in pay scales between cable and broadcast. Even on hit shows on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, young actors make relatively modest salaries — with the exception of Jones.
“My [younger] clients make between $7,000 to $12,000 an episode, even on the network side,“ says one agent.
“When Ashley Tisdale was on ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ six years ago, I heard she was making $9,000 an episode, and the boys [stars Dylan and Cole Sprouse] got $12,000 to 15,000 per episode.”
What they’re making per episode:
1. Angus T. Jones, 16
“Two and a Half Men”
$250,000
TV’s top-paid kid was only 10 when he began his run as Jake Harper on the smash CBS sitcom.
He was born in Austin, Texas, lives in LA with his parents and has a much younger brother, Otto, who is 3 years old. He told the LA Times, in an interview last fall, that he would like to go to college, but hasn’t planned any further than that—and doesn’t even know if he wants to continue acting after “Men.”
2. Miranda Cosgrove, 16
“iCarly”
$180,000
3. Selena Gomez, 17
“Wizards of Waverly Place”
$25,000
4. Dylan and Cole Sprouse, 17
“The Suite Life”
$20,000 each
4. Keke Palmer, 16
“True Jackson”
$20,000
6. Miley Cyrus, 17
“Hannah Montana”
$15,000
6. Rico Rodriguez, 11
“Modern Family”
$15,000
8. Demi Lovato, 17
“Sonny With a Chance”
$12,000
8. Victoria Justice, 17
“Victorious”
$12,000
8. Atticus Shaffer, 11
“The Middle”
$12,000