\u201cThere was a disconnect between the attention that I was getting and how much money we had. It was not a lot of money! <\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, I had to sell my house because I negotiated such a small amount on the trilogy.\u201d<\/p>\n
MORE: $5m feud: Inside war for Peter Brocks fortune<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018OMG\u2019: Grey\u2019s Anatomy star quit US for Aus<\/a><\/p>\n Jimmy Barnes hides $20m in \u2018difficult\u2019 life<\/a><\/p>\n 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<\/p>\n Astin earned just $US75,000 per movie to play hobbit Samwise Gamgee.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Instead, he signed a $357,000 ($US250,000) total contract for the entire 18-month shoot.<\/p>\n \u201cMy pen signed this contract, which obligated me to $250,000 a year, and I\u2019m gonna sign this contract, which will make it so that I absolutely cannot satisfy that other thing,\u201d Astin previously told the Jim & Sam Show<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it was $75,000 a movie. No residuals.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Co-star Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins, told Business Insider<\/a> last year that studio New Line Cinema took a \u201creal gamble\u201d filming all three movies at once. <\/p>\n To mitigate financial risk, the ensemble cast was offered \u201cnot massive salaries\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe benefit of that was that we were also signing up for something that was going to be a part of our lives forever,\u201d Wood added at the time.<\/p>\n Director Peter Jackson shot all three films simultaneously in New Zealand.<\/p>\n The ensemble cast was offered \u201cnot massive salaries\u201d.<\/p>\n Astin, who noted he is now \u201cvery comfortable financially\u201d, is not the only cast member to expose the modest pay.<\/p>\n In 2024, Cate Blanchett, who played the elf Galadriel in the franchise, said on the Watch What Happens Live talk show<\/a> that she \u201cbasically got free sandwiches\u201d and \u201cno one got paid anything.\u201d <\/p>\n Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, told The Howard Stern Show<\/a> in 2019 that he was paid just $260,000 ($US175,000) for all three films.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing, nothing, nothing. I got nothing. 175 grand for three movies,\u201d he said at the time. <\/p>\n \u201cNo listen, greatest gift of my life, are you kidding me? You\u2019d do it again for half the money.\u201d <\/p>\n MORE: Dougie the Pizza Boy\u2019s sad life after 90s ad<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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