Shockingly Low Movie Salaries Revealed: Hilary Swank, Jamie Lee Curtis

Many A-list actors and actresses have been outspoken different movies where the salary does not match the role.

Hilary Swank starred in the 1999 film Boys don’t crygetting it first Academy Award for the performance. While Swank was acclaimed by her peers, she only received a salary of $3,000.

Meanwhile, when Jamie Lee Curtis is cast in the original Halloween film at age 19 in 1978, she was paid just $8,000. In addition to the money she received from acting, she was also tasked with staying on a $200 budget for her character’s wardrobe.

Keep scrolling to see what other stars got paid shockingly low salaries in some big-name movies:

Sean William Scott

While Seann William Scott had his breakthrough role in American Pie like Steve Stifler, his initial salary doesn’t match the value of the current cult classic. Scott earned $8,000 for the entire film, which ended up grossing $235 million at the box office.

“I think so, yeah, because I remember after that I bought a used Thunderbird for about $5,000 or maybe $6,000, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, honey,'” Scott said of what he did with his earnings during to appear in March 2022. on The Rich Eisen Show. “I don’t know what happened to the other $2,000 because I ended up working at the Los Angeles Zoo as a churro man, so maybe it was even less than $8,000.”

Ryan Reynolds

Before making Deadpool household name, Reynolds admitted his salary wasn’t all it seemed while filming the first superhero movie.

“No part of me thought when Deadpool finally got the green light that it would be a success,” the actor said in a July 2024 interview. New York Times. “I even gave up getting paid to shoot the film just to release it again. They wouldn’t allow my co-authors Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took what little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could create a de facto writers room.

Christopher Lee

Lee starred in the 1973 film. The Wicker Manand chose not to take a salary so that the film could be made.

“They didn’t pay me anything. I keep telling people and they don’t believe it’s true,” he said in the 2001 documentary. The Enigma of the Knitting Manper The Independent. “If they paid me my normal fee — and everyone else their normal fee — they wouldn’t be able to make the movie.”

Hilary Swank

“So when I did Boys don’t cryI was 24 years old. I made $3000. To have health insurance, you need to make $5,000. So I didn’t even know I didn’t have health insurance until I went and tried to get a prescription,” Swank recalled during an October 2016 appearance. Chelsea Handlerthe Netflix talk show of the same name. “They said, ‘That’s $160.’ I said, ‘Um, have you tried my insurance?’ They said, ‘Mmm-hm. I had an Academy Award, I didn’t have health insurance.

Ethan Hawke

Hawk shared in a June 2013 interview Entertainment Weekly that while working on The cleaning he didn’t have a big salary and even “slept on the producers’ couch” during filming. The actor admitted that he believes in the premise of horror and wants to be a part of it no matter the cost.

“I never prioritized making money that way. Months ago I decided I loved The cleaning and I felt it was a great film,” he said. “I would love it (even) if he bombed it. So few films have made me money in my 20-year career. I learned not to care about it.”

Jeff Daniels

While Daniels starred in the Dumb and dumber okay Jim Carreyon Newsroom alum is said to have had a significantly smaller salary. Daniels earned $50,000, while Carey received $7 million. The screenwriter-director duo Bobby and Peter Farrelly remembered for The Hollywood Reporter in November 2014 how the movie studio didn’t want to cast Daniels in the role because of his lack of comedy background, even though the Farrelly brothers wanted him to get the part.

“The studio didn’t want it. They said, “Anybody but him, please. Get a comedy actor,” Bobby said. “So they offered him, if I recall, 50 grand, which was, you know, Jim gets seven million, they offered him 50, thinking he was going to say, ‘No, I’m not going to take that,’ but he took it . “

Jamie Lee Curtis

“I made $8,000. I was making $2,000 a week, which was a fortune at the time,” Curtis said people magazine in October 2018. of its original Halloween salary and added that the crew is small and young. “20 people, maybe 15. The oldest was 30. Everyone else was under 30. It was magic. Someone’s friend cooked the food every day and we all ate on the ground together.

In addition to acting, Curtis was also given a $200 budget for his character’s outfit, which he uses at JCPenney.

Nick Castle

Like Curtis, Castle — who played the infamous Michael Mayer — didn’t have a big paycheck on Halloween, but found the experience on set much richer.

“They paid me $25 a day Halloween. That was a lot at the time!” he recalled Vanity Fair in October 2018 “You have to remember: My interest in making the film was on the set so I could demystify the experience of filmmaking and directing. I expected to hang around the set for no money. But hey, $25 a day and all I had to do was wear a rubber mask.

Taraji P. Henson

While working on The Strange Case of Benjamin Button okay Brad Pitt and Cate BlanchettHenson was initially offered $100,000 for her role, although she asked for $500,000. After some negotiation, Henson was paid $150,000 for the role, which earned her an Oscar nomination.

“I want to make this very clear – I’m not saying Brad or Kate shouldn’t have gotten what they got. They put donkeys in the seats, give them the money. They deserve it. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get what they get,” Henson reasoned in an April 2019 interview. Diversity. “I just asked for half a million—that’s all. That’s it. When I was doing Benjamin Button, I wasn’t worth a million yet. My audience was still getting to know me. We thought we wanted what was fair to me at the time.

Rebel Wilson

Prior to Pitch Perfect, Wilson appeared in Bridesmaids. In her memoir, Rebel RisingWilson revealed that she made $3,500 for her scenes with actors Kristen Wiig and Matt Lucas. The amount was the minimum necessary for her to join the SAG-AFTRA union, which was enough for Wilson.

Terrence Howard

Howard claims that in addition to being paid a small salary for his starring role in the 2005 film Hustle & Flow he also received no royalties for his singing.

“I made $12,000 to make Hustle & Flow,” the actor said in a November 2023 interview WREG News Channel 3. “What Paramount did, instead of putting my name as Terrence Howard performing the songs, they put ‘performed by DJay.’ Well they owned DJay so guess what? Performance royalties went to Paramount,” he claimed.

Jennifer Lopez

Lopez revealed that she chose not to get paid for her performance in Crooks. However, she produced the crime comedy.

“They didn’t pay me a whole bunch of money Crooksshe said in a November 2019 interview GQ. “I made it for free and produced it. Like Jenny From the Block – doing what I love.”

Adam Levine

The Maroon 5 frontman made his acting debut in the 2013 rom-com Start again and eventually decided to do it for free.

“I made this film with no money. I’m very lucky to be in this position,” Levine said in an interview with USA today in June 2014 “I want to have good experiences. I don’t want to do a bunch of s- that I hate. I want to treat (acting) completely differently because I have the fortunate luxury of not thinking about it as money.”

George Clooney

Clooney was paid $1 each for writing, directing and acting Good night and good luckearning a total of $3. The actor later shared that his desire to star in the film was inspired by his father’s work ethic as a journalist.

“I say (to my dad), ‘Thank you for setting the bar so high that you believe so strongly in the responsibility of information,’ and raising it to a level that has cost him a lot over the years,” Clooney reflected on LA Times in September 2005. “There were jobs he was leaving because he wasn’t willing to compromise.”