"We were taken advantage of": Talan Torriero on being paid $2500 by MTV for Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach was on air for three years before wrapping up and one of its stars recently opened up about the workings of the show. Talan Torriero, who gained a lot of fame through the MTV show, spoke of how it changed his life and how much the cast made while filming the show.

While in a conversation with Hollywood Raw about how much the cast got paid, he said they were paid $2500 for season one and he made around $8000 in season two.

He added:

"We were taken advantage of."

The first two seasons of Laguna Beach are now available to stream on Netflix.

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Talan Torriero opens up about filming Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach star Talan Torriero recently opened up about filming the early 2000s iconic MTV show. He said that the first season was “as real as it got.” He added that everyone who was on the show would probably have different opinions but the show was, in fact, unscripted.

However, that was not the biggest revelation the former reality star made. Talan said that during the second season of the show, he was living in Los Angeles and would drive to and fro to shoot his scenes. He added that even though he had left high school early, MTV made it seem like he was still in high school.

Talan recalled that, while the show was not scripted, it was heavily edited. He remembers having to recreate a phone call with Kristin once, but there was nobody on the other end of the call.

Talan added that his father wasn’t completely on board with his acting career and was worried about his future. One of the bigger revelations the former Laguna Beach star made was that while filming, the parties that were showcased had alcohol in them.

He said:

"We’ve never supplied like it wasn’t you know like most reality shows they supply sh**loads of alcohol so these people get f***** up and do stupid things."

He added that the cast would save up their money and go to the liquor store to buy alcohol. The former reality star added that he was never forced to do anything in the first season but during season two, he felt like he was forced into doing everything.

During the Hollywood Raw interview, Adam asked him if MTV paid him well and Talan said:

"No, not at all. You know like most reality shows it was like you know I think the first season we got $2500."

The cast earned that amount for the entire season as opposed to being paid per episode and in the second season, Talan earned around eight grand. The former Laguna Beach star further added that while the opportunity seemed great in high school, and made him feel like a king, he realizes now that they were taken advantage of.

He said:

"You know we’re kids and you know that like you know what the rates are, what like a thousand bucks or something I don’t even know what the day rates are for sag anymore."

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More about the show

Laguna Beach is an American reality show that aired from September 2004 to November 2006. It focused on the lives of some students at Laguna Beach High School. The main cast of season 1 included Lauren Conrad, Lo Bosworth, Stephen Colletti, Mogan Olsen, Trey Phillips, Christina Schuller, Kristin Cavallari, and Talan Torriero.

Viewers can watch the show and reminisce about the older times as episodes of Laguna Beach are now available to stream on Netflix.