Summary
The Lord of the Ringsstars have been open about their surprisingly not impressive paycheck. Another star just opened up about it.
The Lord of the Ringstrilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, is based on the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien and produced by New Line Cinema. The three movies —The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001), TheLord of the Rings: The Two Towers(2002) andThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003) — are critical and commercial success. The trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide.The Return of the Kingalone earned $1.1 billion and won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. Overall, the franchise won 17 Academy Awards. Despite its impressive track record, the actors didn’t receive remarkable paychecks. One of them recently talked about their earnings from the blockbuster movies, which weren’t as huge as many expected.
Elijah Wood, who portrayed the main protagonist in the movieFrodo Baggins, attended the 2025 Texas Film Awards. At the event, he spoke about his paycheck fromThe Lord of The Ringsand it wasn’t as “lucrative” as the movies' earnings. “Because we weren’t making one movie and then renegotiating a contract for the next, it wasn’t the sort of lucrative scenario that you could sort of rest easy for the rest of your life,” he explained to Business Insider. He added that the director took “a real gamble” by deciding to shoot the three movies simultaneously. Wood’s revelation wasn’t really surprising because he wasn’t the first and only one who spoke about the case.
In 2018, Sean Astin, who portrayed hobbitSamwise Gamgee, a loyal companion to Frodo, also spoke about the same case when he appeared onJim and Sam Show. According to him, he received “75 grand a movie.” The money he received wasn’t enough to pay for the house he purchased before landing the project. A year later, in 2019, Orland Bloom, who portrayed the fan-favorite unstoppable fighter Legolas, also spoke about his paycheck onThe Howard Stern Show. He only received $175,000 for all three movies. However, Bloom was not a household name before the trilogy. His role in the film catapulted him to fame, which was probably why he still consideredThe Lord of the Ringsthe “greatest gift of my life.” Cate Blanchett, who portrayed the powerfulroyal elf Galadrielhad similar experience with her co-stars. In 2024, she appeared onWatch What Happens Liveand Andy Cohen asked him about a project where she made the most money. The host guessed it was probablyThe Lord of the Rings.“Are you kidding me?” Blanchett told Cohen. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.” According to Blanchett, she only received “free sandwiches” and was able to keep her “[elf] ears.”
There were several reasons why the actors who starred inThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy were underpaid. At the time, the budget for the film was reportedly tight and most of the money was spent on special effects, sets, and location filming. Also, the project was considered a risky investment, so the actors were offered a modest salary. Additionally, at the time, the stars didn’t have profit participation, so they didn’t enjoy the box office earnings. Since there was no guaranteed success due to the huge scale of the movie, the actors agreed to receive lower salaries. Maybe others were hopeful that it could work and make them a household name. In Bloom’s case, it worked. Meanwhile, Blanchett had other motivations for saying “yes” to the project. According to her, she wanted to work with Jackson, who directed the 1992 zombie movieBraindead. So, they had different motivations. Regardless,The Lord of the Ringsmade the actors in the film a household name, but their pay didn’t match its grandeur.
The Lord of the Ringstrilogy is available to stream on Max.
