ABC/Focus Features
The massive unprecedented success of the horror hit Obsession has sparked a debate about the economics of Hollywood. Obsession was produced for just $750K and has the potential to make over $300 million at the box office.
The discourse surrounding the compensation of the Obsession cast and crew sparked to life after Sally Choi, an art director on the film, took to social media to share her grievances about being paid just over $6,000 for her work on the film. We broke down Choi’s comments and the actual mechanics of typical Hollywood pay structures yesterday.
Choi’s complaints have been countered with claims that Inde Navarrette, the breakout star of the film who has been receiving calls for an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the film, was paid $20,000 for her starring role.
The Pitt actress Supriya Ganesh explained how Obsession star Inde Navarrette likely lost money by starring in the film amid speculation she was paid just $20,000
While Navarrette herself has yet to confirm nor deny how much she was paid for Obsession, actress Supriya Ganesh, who stars as Dr. Samira Mohan on the hit HBO Max medical drama series The Pitt, added validity to that conjecture with a lengthy explanation of how independent productions work on social media.
I also feel like people don’t understand the business expenses for this level of success. You pay for PR which is usually 5k a month for three months, each event you go to it costs about 3-5k to pay for HMU and styling. If she’s done 3-5 events that’s already a loss. https://t.co/dPR4Ytnnfx
— Supriya Ganesh (@SupriyaGanesh) June 8, 2026
“I also feel like people don’t understand the business expenses for this level of success. You pay for PR which is usually 5k a month for three months, each event you go to it costs about 3-5k to pay for HMU and styling. If she’s done 3-5 events that’s already a loss,” Ganesh wrote on social media in response to a post claiming Navarrette was only paid $20K for the role.
“There’s also agent fees, manager fees, lawyer fees– unless she’s on a contract that covers PR expenses (which she might be) this is almost like the Oprah effect- where ur business getting successful too fast may actually be financially stressful,” she continued.
“I’ve also worked on the contract that this film was filmed on and it’s not standard for PR to be covered unless the company that bought the film agrees to but even so it’s usually not the PR fees itself but reimbursements for HMU + styling which usually don’t cover all of it.”
“Ultimately it is true this movie had to [be made] on a low budget (otw it wouldn’t be made) and the financial success is unexpected. I’m just pointing out that this is actually a uniquely stressful situation for someone in her position. Like the success actually requires u to adapt quickly.”
Given the success that Obsession has achieved, however, whatever Navarrette was paid for the film is likely irrelevant to the actress now as it has completely changed her career.
In the weeks since the film hit theaters, her Instagram account has ballooned to over 1.5 million followers — a spike of 643.84% over the last 90 days, according to Instagram data tracking websites — she made her first-ever late night TV appearance (she stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week and produced a viral moment with a raunchy anecdote about her 18th birthday celebrations), and has also been rumored to be circling an A24-produced film, in addition to her agent’s phone likely ringing off the hook with offers.