While we know famous actors can make millions of dollars from their performances—take Margot Robbie, who earned $59 million in 2023, and Tom Cruise, who earned $45 million in 2023—there are those who have gotten paid surprisingly little for such huge roles. Even though the majority of us are struggling to find a job with five figures, it’s still interesting to see some big names not get paid millions like we’re so used to seeing. Below, we list some big names who (*gasp*) didn’t earn what maybe they could/should have.
Harrison Ford
For his role in the film Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), Harrison Ford (Han Solo) made about $10,000. This is still not the smallest figure. However, it seems a bit small for a movie that would kickstart one of the most widely-known franchises of all time and many spin-offs. At the time, Ford was a self-taught carpenter who took on minor roles in lesser-known films and TV shows. Star Wars: A New Hope has grossed $775 million today. Imagine being a significant part of a project and not even making half a percent of its earnings.
Comparatively, Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) earned $650,000 and continues to earn a 25% cut of the re-release profits. Woah.
Fortunately, Ford is doing much better financially these days. His role in A New Hope led to other roles in popular movies—including the Indiana Jones franchise, Blade Runner (1982), Air Force One (1997), and many more—and a more “reasonable” paycheck. As of this article, Ford’s net worth is around $300 million.
Christian Bale
The actor revealed that he’d been paid the “absolute minimum” regarding his role in American Psycho, a 2000 cult classic. The film made over $34 million, with Bale earning $1 million as the main character, Patrick Bateman. Even the makeup artists were making more than him.
It proved to be just a hiccup along the road. Bale went on to play significant roles in which he earned a more appropriate amount. He also became well-known for his ability to play vastly different roles and his commitment to drastic physical transformations. Take a look at the difference between his performances in The Dark Knight trilogy, American Hustle (2013), Ford v. Ferrari (2019), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
Nowadays, Bale is worth around $120 million with an Oscar under his belt. After acting for almost four decades, Bale is reportedly tired of acting. Honestly, who can blame him?
Sean Astin and Orlando Bloom
Sean Astin, who played the loyal Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, reportedly earned only $250,000. Considering the monumental success of the series, his lower pay rate is pretty surprising. The three movies took 438 days to film, with no separation or break between them. Each film earned millions of dollars:
- The Fellowship of the Ring (2001): $898.2 million
- The Two Towers (2002): $949 million
- The Return of the King (2003): $1.156 billion
Astin spent all three films beside Elijah Wood, who played one of the main protagonists, Frodo Baggins. Comparatively, Wood started with the same base pay as Astin, but before the third installment, it was raised to $1 million. It’s pretty surprising, considering Astin was already a notable name after his roles in The Goonies (1985), Toy Soldiers (1991), and Rudy (1993). However, Sean Astin is now an easily recognizable face and has played roles in many titles to follow, including Stranger Things (2016-present), 50 First Dates (2004), and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021). Sean Astin now has a net worth of about $10 million.
Orlando Bloom also made surprisingly little when it came to the epic trilogy. Earning even less than Sean Astin, Bloom earned only $175,000. It’s pretty confounding, especially compared to his other co-stars, such as Ian McKellen (who earned $13 million) and Sean Bean (who earned $250,000 for the first film). We suppose we can’t feel too bad for him, though. He did go on to be one of the main characters in another wildly famous franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-present), each film earning over $650 million. Bloom is now worth $40 million.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis earned a measly $8,000 for her role as Laurie Strode in 1978’s Halloween, a horror and spooky season classic. The film grossed $70 million, becoming one of the most successful and popular Halloween films of its time. Curtis had played roles in very few titles, making her relatively unknown at the time. But that changed exponentially after Halloween, shooting her to stardom over the years. Now she’s well-known for other popular, more recent movies, including Christmas with the Kranks (2004), You Again (2010), Knives Out (2019), Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), and many more. She’s also been a director and producer on multiple projects. Curtis is grateful for her breakout role as Laurie, though. She attributes all of her success to the movie.
So, we can’t feel too sorry for her either. The actor who played the villain in Halloween, Michael Myers (Nick Castle), said he was only paid $25 daily!
There are many more names we could have listed. Also, many actors don’t disclose their pay information, so it’s not always easy to tell if our beloved actors are compensated fairly or not. Some actors struggle behind the scenes while others do projects for free because they can afford to (case in point: Jennifer Lopez did Hustlers (2019) for free for many reasons, one being that she has “never been motivated by money”).
Much of the odd pay discrepancies for these films were likely mainly due to who was more well-known and who wasn’t. Each actor listed above hadn’t accomplished as much as they have today. But it’s still wild to think about how even some of the biggest names struggled for cash. It’s a good reminder that everyone has to start somewhere, whether we like it or not.