19 Movie Stars With Bizarrely Low Salaries For Their Iconic Role

Movie stars make ridiculous amounts of money in Hollywood from their roles. But there are exceptions, including a surprising number of A stars.

If you read the lists of the highest paid actors and actresses, you will fall in love. Crazy amounts that you can’t imagine as a normal person.

Movie stars with remarkably low salary

With that in mind, the salaries below for iconic roles are a tip. From Brad Pitt and Chris Evans to Julia Roberts and Jennifer Lawrence, they’ve all worked for starvation wages.

John Candy in Home Alone (1990)

On Netflix-docuseries The movies that made us it became clear that John Candy earned the strangely low salary of $414 for his role as Gus Polinski in Home alone.

Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers (2019)

I haven’t made a lot of money with it. hustlerJennifer Lopez, who played the stripper Ramona in the film, said in 2019 G.Q.. “I did it for free and I produced the movie myself.”

Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

“I won $3,000 with boys don’t cry. To have health insurance, he had to earn $5,000. I didn’t even know I didn’t have health insurance until I got a prescription for a medication,” Hillary Swank said on the Netflix talk show. chelsea in 2016.

“I ended up getting an Oscar for my role instead of health insurance.” Jan Modaal won in the Netherlands in 1999 with a gross salary of 1,851 euros per month, but slightly less than Hilary Swank with her role at the Oscars.

Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct (1992)

If the Dutch are thrifty? Paul Verhoeven certainly does, if we can believe Sharon Stone. “They paid me next to nothing for that basic instinctwhile Michael Douglas received 14 million dollars”, the actress revealed that she did not wear underwear under her skirt, which gave the film status. CBC.

“I didn’t even have money to buy a dress for the Oscars.” The exact salary did not tell the actress, but Reportedly it was $500,000 to Michael Douglas’s $14 million.

Jennifer Lawrence in Winter Bone (2010)

Jennifer Lawrence was paid $500,000 for her breakout role in the first part of The Hunger Games (2012), but it was the movie american hustle (2013) that put her on the barricade to fight the wage gap. For that movie, she got far fewer male movie stars in this lead movie, including Christian Bale.

For Winter’s Bone he was paid $3,000 a week a few years earlier. The film was shot in a year. It is not known how many weeks Jennifer Lawrence was on the set.

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween (1978)

Jamie Lee Curtis received a total salary of $8,000 for her role in Hallowe’en.

Half Nelson (2006)

After his role in The notebook Ryan Gosling has starred in several independent films. For half nelson received his first Oscar nomination. He earned $1,000 a week.

Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Jonah Hill accepted a salary of $60,000 for it. The wolf of Wall Street. A pittance compared to the 10 million dollars Leonardo DiCaprio received for the lead role in this film.

Matthew McConaughey at the Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey received a $200,000 salary for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. In his own words, he added water to the wine, because he chose a different path in his career. Before this movie, he was mostly seen as a muscular hunk in rom-coms.

Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot was paid $300,000 for her role in Wonder Woman (2017). A lot of money, of course, but a low salary compared to other superheroes. The movie grossed $821 million.

Chris Evans in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

There is another superhero with a relatively low salary, at least in his first Marvel movie. For his role as the main character in Captain America the First Avenger Chris Evans got $300,000. That was more than made up for later, with 20 million euros for Avengers Endgame.

Daisy Ridley and John Boyega in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Movie stars Daisy Ridley (Rey) and John Boyega (FN-2187/Finn) were paid between $100,000 and $300,000 for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Harrison Ford got according to Variety fifty times (!) more than his colleagues.

Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise (1991)

A very young Brad Pitt had to settle for a salary of 6,000 euros for his role as JD in Thelma and Luisa.

Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967)

Dustin Hoffman received an Oscar nomination for his breakout role in The graduate. He earned $17,000 for it.

Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (1990)

Julia Roberts received $300,000 for her role in the romantic comedy of romantic comedies Beautiful woman. The film grossed $463.4 million in ticket sales.

Julia Roberts in Mystic Pizza (1988)

For mystic pizza she received an even lower salary: $50,000.

Tom Cruise in Magnolia (1999)

Tom Cruise was the highest paid actor of 2022. With his role in Magnolia won 100 thousand dollars. In 2022 she earned a thousand times more, mainly thanks to Top Gun: Maverick.

John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Quentin Tarantino is credited for giving deviant movie stars a fresh and generally cool face. John Travolta is one such example. It’s cheesy Look who’s talkingTriptych was washed down with an iconic role in Pulp Fiction. He accepted a salary of 100 thousand dollars.

Patricia Arquette in Childhood (2014)

Patricia Arquette won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Olivia in Childhood. It is not known exactly how much she earned from this role. Still, it wasn’t much. “I pay my sitter and dog walker more salary than before Childhoodshe said in 2015 Business Insider.