CBS
Julianna Margulies in "The Good Wife"
- Actress Julianna Margulies told Deadline that she did not reprise her "The Good Wife" role for a guest appearance on "The Good Fight" because CBS lowballed her.
- "I'm not a guest star; I started the whole thing with 'The Good Wife,'" Margulies said. "I wanted to be paid my worth and stand up for equal pay."
Actress Julianna Margulies had an opportunity to reprise her role of Alicia Florrick from CBS' "The Good Wife" on the CBS All Access spin-off, "The Good Fight," but declined.
Margulies revealed to Deadline on Sunday that she didn't appear on "The Good Fight" because CBS wouldn't pay her what she requested, and instead offered her guest-role pay.
"The showrunners had found a nice away to reintroduce my character, a story that was to span three episodes," Margulies said. "I was really excited about the idea, but CBS refused to pay my (ask)."
Margulies won two Emmy awards for her leading performance on "The Good Wife," which ran for seven seasons from 2009 to 2016 on CBS.
"I'm not a guest star; I started the whole thing with 'The Good Wife,'" Margulies said. "I wanted to be paid my worth and stand up for equal pay. If Jon Hamm came back for a 'Mad Men' spin-off or Kiefer Sutherland wanted to do a '24' spin-off, they would be paid."
"The Good Fight" is currently in its third season on CBS All Access. The show has been received well by critics, and has a 96% average Rotten Tomatoes critic score. The AV Club called the third season a "tour de force of acting, writing, and directing."