Elijah Wood says the ‘Lord of the Rings’ cast’s low salaries on the multibillion-dollar trilogy were ‘understandable’

https://www.businessinsider.com/elijah-wood-lord-of-the-rings-salary-pay-2025-4?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insider-entertainment-sub-post

15 comments

  1. **TLDR:**

    * **Elijah Wood said it was understandable that “The Lord of the Rings” cast didn’t get paid much.**
    * **Last year, his costar Cate Blanchett joked she “basically got free sandwiches” to be in the film.**
    * **Wood told BI he knows Blanchett’s comments were in jest and none of them regret being in the movies.**

  2. They deserved to be paid more. Also, thanks for the summary of the article, OP.

  3. Oh yeah ? Is Elijah Wood searching the couch cushions for change so he can get groceries ? I didn’t think so .

  4. I hate when actors are like this. OK, low upfront salaries are understandable but everyone should have more in their contracts when a movie grosses as much as these movies did. Instead the studio and producers made MILLIONS and MILLIONS and the actors “got free sandwiches”.

    Hollywood accounting needs to be killed too.

  5. I like Liv Tyler in the movies, but it is an absolute travesty that she earned vastly more than Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis combined.

  6. I understand why salaries might be low, but when the movie over performs I don’t see why underpaid actors shouldn’t get a % or bonus along side it. Like, hey this project is risky, we can pay you scale + 0.5% of profit.

  7. I love how even 20 years later there’s no drama stemming from these movies. Everyone was grateful to be apart of it and it’s clear from the BTS footage.

    Looked like the most fun an actor could have and the film was rewarded appropriately at the Oscars

  8. I get it too, actors are the most overpaid part of the crew. That’s not a knock against actors, it’s just what it is. Sure they’re important but crews in general needed raises ages ago.

    Kudos to Wood understanding that there’s more than your own bottom line but also your less earning colleagues.

    I think that makes the LotR cast so likable. So far Bloom, Wood, Monaghan and Boyd have been realistic about payment expectations.

  9. Maybe every actor should have a percentage of the post-release take (across every platform) written into their contract, and then also lower the up-front.

  10. I mean, yeah?

    Of the LOTR cast who then was a certified STAR? Now if they get Sean Connery, Vin Diesel, Uma Thurman like they tested, that casting budget goes up. Also, the cast is perfect because it was a bunch of people who were also just gamers, always up for anything and know that they signed up for 3 movie, decade long gig.

    Also, you’re in New Zealand, Peter Jackson is a notoriously good guy and relaxed on set (he’s not James Cameron on set) and he’s making a labor of love.

  12. They tried to save money as much as they could and the movies were a huge risk at the time. We’re lucky they didn’t get any big name actors that they tried to get, it would have eaten into the budget and cheapened the films

  13. When asked for questions, all other cast members said, “speak for yourself!”

  15. For anyone who says, we’ll the studio didn’t know if it was going to be a hit…. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it, they knew it’d be a hit

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