Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin was forced to sell his house at the height of his fame after taking a measly wage on the blockbuster trilogy.
Despite the fantasy franchise grossing $4.3bn ($US2.9bn) worldwide, Astin earned just $110,000 ($US75,000) per movie to play hobbit Samwise Gamgee.
The 55-year-old actor explained that even though he was famous, he didn’t earn enough to pay his mortgage.
“I was not prepared for that level of visibility,” Astin told The Guardian.
“There was a disconnect between the attention that I was getting and how much money we had. It was not a lot of money!
“In fact, I had to sell my house because I negotiated such a small amount on the trilogy.”
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Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin was forced to sell his house at the height of his fame after taking a measly wage on the blockbuster trilogy. Picture: Thomas Cooper/Getty Images
Astin earned just $US75,000 per movie to play hobbit Samwise Gamgee.
Before filming began, Astin had bought a home with a $357,000 ($US250,000)-a-year mortgage commitment, expecting his career move to pay off.
Instead, he signed a $357,000 ($US250,000) total contract for the entire 18-month shoot.
“My pen signed this contract, which obligated me to $250,000 a year, and I’m gonna sign this contract, which will make it so that I absolutely cannot satisfy that other thing,” Astin previously told the Jim & Sam Show.
“So it was $75,000 a movie. No residuals.”
Because director Peter Jackson shot all three films simultaneously in New Zealand, the cast was unable to renegotiate their pay as the movies shattered box office records.
Co-star Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins, told Business Insider last year that studio New Line Cinema took a “real gamble” filming all three movies at once.
To mitigate financial risk, the ensemble cast was offered “not massive salaries”.
“The benefit of that was that we were also signing up for something that was going to be a part of our lives forever,” Wood added at the time.
Director Peter Jackson shot all three films simultaneously in New Zealand.
The ensemble cast was offered “not massive salaries”.
Astin, who noted he is now “very comfortable financially”, is not the only cast member to expose the modest pay.
In 2024, Cate Blanchett, who played the elf Galadriel in the franchise, said on the Watch What Happens Live talk show that she “basically got free sandwiches” and “no one got paid anything.”
Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, told The Howard Stern Show in 2019 that he was paid just $260,000 ($US175,000) for all three films.
“Nothing, nothing, nothing. I got nothing. 175 grand for three movies,” he said at the time.
“No listen, greatest gift of my life, are you kidding me? You’d do it again for half the money.”
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