Cate Blanchett Claims Stars Didn’t Get Paid for ‘Lord of the Rings’
Despite Lord of the Rings being one of the most popular and beloved fantasy franchises, one of its stars is now claiming that they didn’t get paid for starring in the first film. Cate Blanchett recently appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, and he asked which film she received the biggest paycheck for and guessed that it would have to be Lord of the Rings.
Blanchett scoffed, “Are you kidding me? No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.” She added, “I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my [elf] ears.” Cohen responded that they must have gotten some kind of residual payments since the film went on to do so well, but she said it was before any of that was commonplace. So that means the actors did not receive any additional compensation after the film did well in theaters and beyond.
Everett Collection
Blanchett later remarked, “Women don’t get paid much as you think they do.” Blanchett wasn’t the only one to open up about her pay in the film franchise. In a separate interview, Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom said that he got paid $175,000 for his involvement in the entire franchise. The franchise has now earned billions of dollars — yes, billions. The money likely all went back to the movie studio, New Line Cinema.
New Line/Everett Collection
Bloom revealed, “I got nothing. $175 grand. Three movies. Listen: greatest gift of my life they’ve given me and you’d do it again for half the money.” He’s likely referring to the fact that the films launched the careers of many of its stars.
Watch Blanchett’s entire interview below, and let us know what you think about the Lord of the Rings stars basically not getting paid for doing the films.
Tough Guys, Bad Girls
September 2017
Hard-boiled detectives, gangsters and their gals — a gritty look at the art of noir and the craft of going wrong.
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