Cate Blanchett Says ‘No One Got Paid Anything’ to Film ‘Lord of the Rings’: ‘I Basically Got Free Sandwiches’

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/cate-blanchett-lord-of-the-rings-salary-free-sandwiches-1236099935/

32 comments

  1. > During “Watch What Happens Live” on Tuesday night, host Andy Cohen asked Blanchett what film she received the biggest paycheck for. “I think it’s probably ‘Lord of the Rings,’” Cohen guessed.

    > “Are you kidding me?” Blanchett replied. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.”

    > “I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my [elf] ears,” Blanchett said of her “Lord of the Rings” salary on “Watch What Happens Live.”

    > She later said, “Women don’t get paid much as you think they do.”

  2. This misconception is probably because many people think that when a movie is successful, the people who worked on it also see any direct financial profit from it. At least, nowadays it is pretty much standard but back then it wasn’t very usual to get a guaranteed percentage of (gross) profits as an actor. (I mention gross profits because of the infamous deals where actors/writers would contractually get a percentage of net profits but Hollywood accounting made it so the movie never made a net profit on paper)

  3. It’s all about leverage. I guess just being prominently featured in that trilogy was worth millions. She became extremely recognizable because of it.

  5. This would be interesting to fact check — eg for top men and women stars of those movies.

  6. Shes being cheeky, for those who can’t tell. It’s commentary on the gender pay gap.

  8. LOTR is the only reason why we still hear from her in the first place

  11. I’ll never believe a negative thing about Cate Blanchett after her appearance on “Hot Ones” with Sean Evans. I was a fan already but she was just an absolute delight and wonderful person during her interview.

  12. Have to actually have screen time to get a big paycheck. I’m sure it wasn’t as much as it should have been, but only a handful of minutes with such a stacked cast doesn’t equal huge money for anyone

  13. Didn’t she also say she was solidly middle class recently?

  14. Is she trying to make us dislike all versions of Galadriel ?

  16. It’s worth noting we think of LotR as a cultural behemoth today, but that is absolutely not what it was then. Filming three movies at once, huge cast, huge amount of production work, a revered IP but thoroughly untested in the medium — to characterize the trilogy as anything but a risky gambit would be incorrect.

    It became apparent very quickly after The Fellowship it was going to be wildly successful, but that moment was ~4-5y in the making.

  17. Well just one bite is enough to fill an elven queen’s stomach.

  18. My corporate job cut the free sandwiches to boost CEO pay.

  19. “Being paid nothing” is probably the equivalent to being paid my yearly salary, but since its not in the millions like they’re used to, *it is* probably nothing to them

  20. Criminal. She was one of the best parts of both trilogies. Please bring her back for the new movie!

  21. This isn’t even a man vs. woman salary discussion, it is true that none of these guys got paid what you would think. If I remember, Elijah was only on contract for the three movies at $1M…that’s it. Sean Astin made like $300k or something…and this was for all the movies I believe not even individually.

  24. Out of touch. Plenty of people work harder and get paid less. GTFOH

  26. Let’s being honest, I love Cate Blanchett but before The Lord of the Rings she was barely famous. She played Elizabeth and she got the Oscar nomination, then she played Galadriel in one of the biggest trilogies of all time, and after this she became the Cate Blanchett we all know. She can’t really compare her status now with what she was back at the end of the 90s. Those sandwiches paved the road she is in now.

  27. Cate Blanchett was only in the movies for a handful of scenes. She probably got paid very little.

  28. Ah yes so what you’re saying is that you’re so stupid you worked for free. Yes I believe that because I’m an idiot too.

  30. I’m tired of these enormously privileged and wealthy performers acting like they have experienced wage theft and hardship. The sheer amount of press, media, promotions, and campaigns the cast received is more than most receive in a lifetime.

  31. Translation: I got paid a lot less than I’ve been paid for other films, but it would still be a fuck-ton of money for the average person.

  32. She got paid in soul dollars. She is soul rich now

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