Actors Who Demanded A Higher Paycheck For A Role

Showbusiness isn’t an exact science, and being a star isn’t always as easy as it looks. A lot of work goes into making a movie or a TV show, so it’s only natural that actors want to make sure they get a salary that reflects their experience and star pull. The more successful an actor is, the higher the asking price.

With that being said, some studios like Disney don’t always have the budget to pay actors what they want. Negotiations can either be successful or have a huge impact on what happens next. Some actors walk away with multi-million-dollar checks, while others walk away with nothing but a missed opportunity.

1. Bruce Willis

Project: Expendables 3

Proposed Salary: $1 million a day for four days*

Outcome: Walked away

Bruce Willis has managed to establish a reputation as one of the best action movie actors of all time, so it’s probably not surprising that he knows his own worth. Sylvester Stallone approached Willis to appear in 2014’s Expendables 3, but Willis wasn’t about to do it for nothing.

Even though the part wasn’t a major one and would take around four days to shoot, the Sony actor wanted $1 million a day. Stallone could only come up with $3 million, so Bruce walked away. This rocked the boat slightly, causing Sly to label his buddy as “greedy and lazy.”

2. Tom Cruise

Project: Salt

Proposed Salary: $20 million*

Outcome: Angelina Jolie did it instead

We all know that Angelina Jolie did a very good job of playing the lead character in Salt, but did you know that the project could have looked very different? Everyone’s favorite Scientologist Tom Cruise was reportedly in talks to play the character of “Edwin A. Salt” but the studio wouldn’t cough up $20 million.

Tom wasn’t at peak popularity at the time, so the studio refused, although Cruise later said he was the one who decided not to take part as it was too similar to some of his other projects. Either way, Jolie stepped in to play a revised version of the character in the caper.

3. Katherine Heigl

Project: Valentine’s Day

Proposed Salary: $3 million*

Outcome: Walked away

Valentine’s Day was made up of a decent ensemble cast, including Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Kathy Bates, and more. It also very nearly included Katherine Heigl, but the Grey’s Anatomy star ended up walking away from the project in the early stages of negotiation.

Rumor has it that the Disney ABC beauty wanted $3 million to film the project, which was much more than what her co-stars had settled for. Katherine didn’t star in the film, but her people later slammed the claims as “ludicrous” and that she decided not to go ahead with the movie for “multiple reasons.”

4. Jennifer Lopez

Project: American Idol

Proposed Salary: $22 million*

Outcome: She left in 2016

Viewers tune in to shows like American Idol not only for the talent but because they want to see the A-list panel of judges, too. When J-Lo signed on in 2011, it was a big thing for Simon Cowell. Jenny from the Block is loved by many, so the network was more than willing to pay her handsomely.

However, as the seasons rolled by, Jen wanted more and more money to appear on the Fox show, reportedly asking for $22 million. No one was willing to pay that sum, so J-Lo walked away from the show, although she later said it was to focus on other projects that she had going on.

5. Terrence Howard

Project: Iron Man 2

Proposed Salary: $7 million less than the previous movie*

Outcome: Terrence was fired when he fought back

We all know now that Iron Man is one of Marvel’s biggest and most lucrative movie characters, but when Robert Downey Jr. signed up to play Tony Stark in 2008, he wasn’t paid a lot for it. By the second movie, RDJ had built up his confidence and asked for considerably more, but there was only one problem.

Disney wanted to chop down co-star Terrence Howard’s salary by more than $7 million to balance it out. Terrence fought back, but he ended up getting fired and replaced with Don Cheadle, who continues to play the part of War Machine as of 2021.

6. Charlie Sheen

Project: Two and a Half Men

Proposed Salary: $100 million*

Outcome: Agreed

Say what you want about Charlie Sheen, but the guy drives a hard bargain. Even though Charlie was offered $48 million for two seasons of Two and A Half Men, Sheen wanted more. He wanted an astonishing $100 million, or he said he would walk away.

At first, the network didn’t believe him, but before long, it became clear Mr. Sheen wasn’t joking with CBS. After playing a game of hardball, they eventually gave in to his demands. Of course, Charlie would end up getting axed from the show any way in 2012, but his deal still made him the highest-paid TV star in history at that time.

7. Johnny Depp

Project: Black Mass

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: Agreed

You don’t have to be a movie expert to know that Johnny Depp has had a rough time over the past few years. While he was once box office hot property, Depp’s star began to fade in the 2010s. When he originally signed on to star in 2015’s Black Mass, he agreed to $20 million.

However, when production costs continued to rise on the AT&T picture, the studio was left with no choice but to offer him just $10 million. Depp walked away from the project but later returned, although it’s not clear whether he was given his full asking price or just settled for the lesser amount.

8. Crispin Glover

Project: Back to the Future: Part 2

Proposed Salary: $150,000*

Outcome: Walked away

Crispin Glover has never kept it a secret that he didn’t enjoy his time on Back to the Future. When Glover said he didn’t agree with the script for the sequel, the producers supposedly made life difficult for the actor – at least, according to him.

What’s more, they weren’t willing to pay him much at all, offering him $150,000. Glover soon discovered that this amount was far less than other supporting actors were being paid for the same project, and decided his time with the franchise was over for good.

9. Jack Nicholson

Project: Hercules

Proposed Salary: $10-$15 million*

Outcome: Someone else was cast

Jack Nicholson is the kind of actor that the world sees once in a blue moon. He’s so devilishly good that he would have absolutely smashed it as Hades in Disney’s Hercules, but Jack doesn’t mess around. He was offered $500,000 to participate, but Jack wanted $10-$15 million and a slice of the profits.

Disney was never going to pay that much for what they considered a secondary role, so off Jack went to work on other projects while James Woods stepped in and voiced the character. It all worked out well in the end, with Woods doing a stellar job.

10. Will Smith

Project: Independence Day sequels

Proposed Salary: $50 million and a part for Jada*

Outcome: He was dropped

Will Smith is one of Hollywood’s biggest assets, but that doesn’t mean he can ask for enormous amounts of money and get them at the drop of a hat. Independence Day is one of his most memorable movies, and producers were keen to get him back for the sequels.

But Will’s asking price of $50 million for 2 & 3 was way too much. Not only did he want that cash, but he wanted his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith to have a part to play, too. The studio simply couldn’t afford him and turned him down, moving forward without him.

11. Ellen Pompeo

Project: Grey’s Anatomy

Proposed Salary: $20 million (current contract)*

Outcome: Network agreed to a raise

Grey’s Anatomy is one of the most popular medical dramas ever to grace our screens, so lead actress Ellen Pompeo knows that she’s holding all the cards. However, in the early days of the show, Ellen wasn’t the highest-paid actor on the series at all. Her co-star, Patrick Dempsey, was getting more than she was.

Ellen Pompeo Grey’s Anatomy @quotecatalog / Pinterest.com

Ellen went head-to-head with the network and they ultimately agreed to pay her $5,000 more per episode than what Dempsey was getting. Now, Pompeo is the highest-earning actress in her niche, taking home $20 million a year for her role as Meredith Grey.

12. Robert Duvall

Project: The Godfather: Part III

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: He passed

Filmmakers were keen to get Robert Duvall to reprise his role of Tom Hagen in The Godfather III, but he just wouldn’t do it. There was no bad blood, no horses’ heads in beds, it was simply just a matter of money.

Duvall wanted more than what some other actors were being paid for the movie, but the studio wasn’t willing to cough up. He even went so far as to call the producers “cheap” which probably didn’t go down all that well. Duvall also said he felt like Coppola really wasn’t all that interested in having him star at all.

13. Tom Cruise

Project: Titanic

Proposed Salary: $20 million*

Outcome: Leo DiCaprio played the part

Tom Cruise was still hot property in the ‘90s, coming off a wave of successful movies in the ‘80s. So, when James Cameron started filming Titanic on a grand scale, the studio wanted Tom Cruise to play the part of Jack Dawson.

We all know that it ended up being Leonardo DiCaprio that went down with the ship, but if Cruise hadn’t have been so expensive and if Cameron hadn’t been so taken with Leo, things may have gone down a different route. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing the part now.

14. Hilary Duff

Project: Lizzie McGuire

Proposed Salary: $500,000 bonus*

Outcome: Project was scrapped

Hilary Duff made a lot of money for Disney as Lizzie McGuire, even after the original TV show ended. The first Lizzie Mcguire movie took $55.5 million at the box office, but talks of a sequel were already underway before the movie was released. While it’s not clear how much Duff was offered, we do know that a $500,000 bonus was on the table.

If the first movie made more than $50 million, Duff would take home the extra cash – if she agreed to do another movie. However, it’s alleged that Hilary’s momager wanted the cash immediately. When Disney didn’t agree, filming never went ahead and the sequel was scrapped.

15. Lisa Kudrow

Project: Friends

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode for final two seasons*

Outcome: Agreed

The fact that the cast of Friends was able to band together to get the money they deserved is something that still inspires some actors today. The salary for the cast members was relatively low for the first couple of seasons, ranging from $22,000 to $40,000.

However, Kudrow, Perry, Aniston, Schwimmer, Cox, and LeBlanc, were able to negotiate a record-breaking $1 million per episode deal for the final two seasons of the show. That move will go down in history as a testament to how popular Friends really was.

16. Suzanne Somers

Project: Three’s Company

Proposed Salary: $150,000 per week*

Outcome: She was fired

Suzanne Somers earned $3,500 a week when she first started playing Chrissy on Three’s Company. Sure, that’s a decent wage most people even now would jump at, but she put in long hours. What’s worse, the male actors were getting more. Although her salary did jump to $30,000 a week, she wanted to be paid equally.

John Ritter, for example, was being paid above $150,000 a week. It’s only fair that Somers got the same, but when her husband went to negotiate for her, things took a turn. Because of her audacity to ask, she was fired and forced to finish out the season.

17. Charlize Theron

Project: The Huntsman

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: Agreed

The gender pay gap in Hollywood has been slowly closing over the past few years, and rightly so. However, when Charlize Theron was filming The Huntsman alongside Thor himself Chris Hemsworth, word soon reached her that he was being paid a darn sight more than what she was.

Charlize re-negotiated her deal, demanding to be paid just as much as her male co-star. The studio conceded and the actress was ultimately paid the same as Chris, walking away with $10 million in her pocket. The movie itself ended up taking $165 million against a $115 million budget.

18. Tim Allen

Project: Home Improvement

Proposed Salary: $1.25 million per episode*

Outcome: A substantial pay rise

Tim Allen rose up through the ranks in the ‘90s to become a really successful household name, thanks largely to his sitcom, Home Improvement. For a long time, Tim was taking home $200,000 an episode, which isn’t to be sniffed at, but towards the end of the show’s run, he wanted more.

Allen reportedly approached execs and asked for $1.25 million per episode for the final two seasons. Whatever Tim did, it worked as he certainly got a big bump and he took home a very nice $33.75 million for the final 27-episode run. Is it any wonder that he’s worth $80 million?

19. Rachel Brosnahan

Project: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Proposed Salary: $300,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

Every now and then, some shows pop up that are extraordinary hits. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is one of those, turning Rachel Brosnahan into an overnight sensation. For the first season, Rachel took home $100,000 per episode, but as the show became more and more popular, she knew it was time for negotiation.

It worked out in Rachel’s favor, with Amazon agreeing to fork out $300,000 per episode instead. Given just how many awards the show has picked up, it looks like it’s money well spent – and long may it continue.

20. Harrison Ford

Project: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Proposed Salary: $10 million+*

Outcome: They hired Bob Hoskins

Harrison Ford is a formidable actor that can do comedy and action just as well as drama, but could you imagine him in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit? If Ford hadn’t have been so darned expensive, Bob Hoskins may never have got his shot with Jessica Rabbit at all.

The filmmakers originally wanted the Indiana Jones star to play the part, but they simply couldn’t afford him. He was too much of a big shot to be messing around with cartoon crimes, but it all worked out well in the end. Hoskins did the Disney Touchstone picture proud.

21. Laurence Fishburne

Project: Die Hard With a Vengeance

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Samuel L. Jackson got the job

Laurence Fishburne and Samuel L. Jackson were coming up in the industry at the same time, which is why their stories are often intertwined. Not only was Laurence Fishburne originally offered the part of Jules in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction that ended up going to Jackson, but Jackson also ended up taking another part meant for Fishburne, too.

Fishburne was all set to star in Die Hard With A Vengeance as Zeus, but at the last minute, the studio found a cheaper alternative in Jackson. It’s not known exactly how much Laurence asked for, but it’s thought executives just wanted to save some cash.

22. Sean Connery

Project: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Proposed Salary: $750,000+*

Outcome: He quit

Legendary star Sean Connery is largely considered one of the best Bond’s ever to grace our screens. He starred in seven movies, but when it came time to star in his fifth, he wanted an increase on his $750,000 salary. Amazingly, despite his popularity, the studio didn’t agree.

Another actor ended up being Bond for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but it didn’t quite work out and Sean came back for the 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. Even then, Connery only returned because he was lured in with better pay and benefits.

23. Valerie Harper

Project: Valerie

Proposed Salary: $100,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed, but then fired

The sitcom The Hogan Family originally started life as Valerie. Valerie Harper was at the helm as the titular character, helping the show become the breakout hit it was destined to be. By the end of the second season, Harper wanted a raise from $56,750 per episode to $100,000.

Studio executives weren’t about to cough that up, and Harper wasn’t backing down. She refused to act until a better deal was made, but when one was finally struck, it still signaled the end. After filming just one episode under the new contract, Valerie’s character was killed off and Harper was fired.

24. Marcus Chong

Project: The Matrix Reloaded

Proposed Salary: $1 million*

Outcome: His character was cut

When characters mysteriously vanish from a franchise, fans want to know why. Marcus Chong played The Tank in The Matrix, but we never saw him again after that. According to a lawsuit Chong later filed, he was told he would be in the next two movies, but the studio only offered him $400,000.

Chong wanted $1 million and executives just wouldn’t agree to it. The whole thing was very bitter on both sides, with The Tank getting cut from the movies entirely and Chong later accusing producers of blackballing him and stopping him from working.

25. Emmy Rossum

Project: Shameless

Proposed Salary: $350,000 per episode plus backpay*

Outcome: The studio agreed

Emmy Rossum was a big part of why Shameless became so popular. Alongside William H. Macy, Rossum reworked the original material and gave it a twist that US audiences could relate to. That being said, when Emmy discovered that Macy was getting $350,000 per episode and she wasn’t, she stood up.

Negotiations ensued, with Emmy asking for equal pay moving forward as well as back pay to make up for everything she should have been paid up until that point. William H. Macy had her back all the way and Rossum ended up getting the deal she wanted, before leaving the show in 2018.

26. Robert Downey, Jr.

Project: Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: Agreed

Iron Man 2 was a tour de force for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it would have been nothing without the presence of Robert Downey Jr, the lead actor. Downey Jr. was paid $500,000 for the first Iron Man movie, but, after the movie took off, he knew that he could get a lot more for the sequel.

Though the studio hemmed and hawed about his figure, Downey Jr. held firm. Realizing that Iron Man would be nothing without the actor, the studio caved, and the M.C.U. star made $10 million for the second film. For the final movie in the Avengers universe, Downey Jr. made $75 million.

27. Helen Hunt

Project: Mad About You

Proposed Salary: $100,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

Mad About You was a hit sitcom that raked in major advertising revenue for the network, guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of revenue in reruns and original episodes. The show would have been nothing without its two main stars, Helen Hunt and Paul Riser.

Riser and Hunt demanded a sizable raise for helping the sitcom get off the ground. The network eventually agreed, paying each $100,000 per episode. Though that’s not the $1 million per episode that Big Bang Theory sitcom stars would get decades later, for the mid-1990s, these upstart actors negotiated quite a deal for themselves.

28. Simon Cowell

Project: American Idol

Proposed Salary: $35 million per season*

Outcome: Agreed

American Idol is one of the biggest talent competitions in the world, and it, along with its similar shows like the Got Talent and X-Factor series, have grossed billions of dollars in revenue. For the first five seasons, famously snarky judge Simon Cowell was a constant presence on Idol.

In the beginning, he asked for a hefty salary. He made $35 million per season from day one, something that distinguished him from his fellow judges, who only made $5 million each season. He left after season five (his full contract term) because of an unknown dispute between him and the executive producer, Simon Fuller.

29. Millie Bobby Brown

Project: Stranger Things

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

Stranger Things became a cultural phenomenon after it aired. It was one of the most popular shows in America, and it made celebrities out of its stars, most of whom were kids when they began shooting the sci-fi/horror show.

Millie Bobby Brown renegotiated her contract with Netflix, and she ended up making ten times more than what she was originally slated to make. She originally was supposed to make just $25,000 an episode in the third season, but she received a huge pay bump to $250,000 per episode. David Harbour and Winona Ryder, the series’ adult stars, made $350,000 per episode in season three.

30. Rob Lowe

Project: The West Wing

Proposed Salary: $300,000*

Outcome: Denied, Lowe left

The West Wing was an Emmy-winning drama about the ins and outs of the White House. The well-known political drama starred Rob Lowe for several of the seasons, but the veteran actor left when he realized that his role on the show had diminished.

He also was upset that his costars were making $300,000 an episode, while he was only cashing checks worth $75,000. Lowe was upset that he didn’t get a raise, so he left. The official statement was that the decision had been “mutual.” In some ways it had: the network denied Lowe’s request, so he left without them objecting.

31. Michael C. Hall

Project: Dexter

Proposed Salary: $24 million for two more seasons*

Outcome: Agreed

The salary dispute behind Dexter’s seventh season lasted a few months, but Hall eventually got the salary he wanted. The network, Showtime, had good reason to try to keep the main star happy, as Dexter’s sixth season was the highest-rated premiere ever for the network.

It was also the best original series premiere on Showtime in over a dozen years. The network and Hall reached an impasse when it came to his salary, but, eventually, the dam broke and the serial killer drama was renewed for a seventh season. Showtime offered Hall $20 million for two more seasons, but Hall asked for $24 million and got that instead.

32. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Project: Seinfeld

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*

Outcome: Agreed (but still no royalties)

The entire crew of Seinfeld made $3.1 billion in total, and the sitcom was one of the most beloved shows on television. The “show about nothing” is an icon, but the behind-the-scenes salary negotiations were less than ideal.

The Seinfeld cast reportedly was denied royalties, and, as a result, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, and George Costanza all demanded $1 million per episode salaries for the final season of the show. They got their wish for the final year, and Alexander defended his and his costars’ decision, saying that they got what they “should have had” all along.

33. Ray Romano

Project: Everybody Loves Raymond

Proposed Salary: $1.8 million per episode*

Outcome: Agreed, but the rest of the cast staged a walkout

By 2003, the beloved sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond had been around for six years. Ray Romano wanted to renew his contract, but only if he made $1.8 million per episode, an astronomical fee at the time. He also wanted residuals, which would keep him earning even when the show wasn’t filming.

Romano got his wish, but not without consequences. His cast-mates staged a walkout in protest. They were only making $160,000 per episode, which was just a fraction of what Romano made. The walkout worked, and they got huge bumps in their salaries to entice them back to filming.

34. Evan Rachel Wood

Project: Westworld

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

Westworld is perhaps one of the most fascinating shows on TV. The HBO sci-fi show features an amusement park with robots and rich guests who want to do crazy things with the robots. The show stars Evan Rachel Wood, Thandi Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Ed Harris, and more.

Evan Rachel Wood and her costars negotiated a huge raise for the HBO series. They ended up making $250,000 per episode for the latest third season, and a fourth season is currently in the works. The huge pay increase was finalized before season three aired, so it remains to be seen whether season four will net a similar bump.

35. Kelsey Grammer

Project: Frasier

Proposed Salary: $1.6 million per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

The “smartest show on television” was not without its salary disputes. Kelsey Grammer, the star of Frasier, earned more than $1 million per episode during the final two seasons of the popular sitcom. The producers agreed to give him $1.6 million per episode after some tense negotiations.

Later, we’d find out that Grammer made $75 million in total from the series. The Cheers spinoff was wildly successful, and Grammer said that he was really in it for the money. According to the Frasier star, he knew the show couldn’t succeed without him and he wanted to “never have to work again” when it was done.

36. Jorja Fox

Project: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Proposed Salary: $120,000 per episode*

Outcome: Denied, $100,000 per episode remained her salary*

The drama behind the salary negotiations for two huge CSI actors was intense. Jorja Fox and her co-star, George Eads, both lost out when they attempted to negotiate a salary raise for the CBS drama. Originally, the pair wanted a pay raise of $20,000 per episode, leading to a salary of $120,000 per episode.

CBS not only denied the request, but the network also fired them both. Fox and Eads asked to come back, and they promised that they’d work for their original salary of $100,000 per episode. CBS agreed, rehired them, and then released a tongue-in-cheek statement saying they were glad the pair “could work things out” with the network and return to CSI.

37. Chrissy Metz

Project: This Is Us

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

There was a time when Chrissy Metz, the star of the hit drama, This Is Us, had just eighty-one cents to her name. That has all changed, and she is one of the main characters on one of the most popular shows in America.

Metz, along with Justin Hartley, Sterling K. Brown, Mandy Moore, and Milo Ventimiglia scored a huge pay raise before the show’s third season aired. NBC, driven by the knowledge of how popular This Is Us is, agreed to the stars’ demands. Now, Metz makes $250,000 per episode, a far cry from the original $40,000 per episode that she made during the first season.

38. Daniel Dae Kim

Project: Hawaii Five-O

Proposed Salary: $200,000 per episode*

Outcome: Denied, Kim left

A recent interview, published in the spring of 2021, told Daniel Dae Kim’s side of the salary dispute between him and the Hawaii Five-0 producers. Dae Kim left the show in 2017, much to fans’ dismay. TV Line described the exit as “incendiary” and “high profile.”

Kim revealed that he and his co-star, Grace Park, had attempted to negotiate pay equality with the Five-0 network. He wanted to be paid the same as Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin, his co-stars, but the network denied his request. As a result, the two left the CBS police drama. The former Lost star said the pay gap was too “significant” for him to let slide.

39. Taraji P. Henson

Project: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Proposed Salary: $500,000*

Outcome: Denied, paid just $150,000 instead*

For her role as Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Taraji P. Henson expected to make $500,000. After all, she was the third-billed actress in the film, which was Oscar-nominated and directed by famous filmmaker David Fincher. However, the actress revealed that what she was offered was a far cry from what she expected.

She made just $150,000 from the film, which was much lower than what its other stars, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, made. Henson said she was “gutted” that she received the amount and felt she should have made something closer to her proposed half-million figure.

40. Sharon Stone

Project: Basic Instinct

Proposed Salary: $14 million*

Outcome: Denied, paid just $500,000

Basic Instinct would have been nothing without the captivating, arresting character that Sharon Stone played. Her scenes from the film were the most famous, and it was stunning that she was paid just half a million dollars for her role in the film.

Her co-star, Michael Douglas, earned $14 million. Stone wanted pay equality between her and Douglas, but she wasn’t offered anything close. She said she was given “little money” for her role, and she recalled continuously being frustrated that she wasn’t paid as much as her male co-stars, even though Basic Instinct was her breakthrough tour de force. Stone is now a vocal advocate for closing the pay gap between male and female stars.

41. Kathy Griffin

Project: Suddenly Susan

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Denied

Comedian Kathy Griffin had a starring role on Suddenly Susan, a Brooke Shields sitcom, and it was one of her first paying acting gigs. Griffin was pretty unknown at the time, but she was still disappointed with how low her pay was.

She learned later that she was the second-lowest-paid actor on the set, despite having a pretty prominent part. Griffin didn’t reveal the exact numbers behind the dispute, but she said that this trend has followed her throughout her career. She said she’s “very open” about asking for a raise, and when she’s “simply told, ‘No,” the rejection is “brutal.”

42. Halle Berry

Project: Revlon Ads

Proposed Salary: $2.75 million/year*

Outcome: Denied, given $1.38 million per year instead*

Halle Berry, an actress and model, is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. The actress has had a long partnership with the global beauty brand Revlon, but things haven’t always been smooth-sailing.

After her work began to take off in Hollywood, winning recognition for Monsters Ball, Berry, who had a partnership with Revlon, went to Revlon CEO Ron Perelman and demanded a raise of over $1 million. She told Perelman he “ha[d] to pay [her] more now.” Perelman was reportedly incensed that she asked that way and denied her request outright, sticking instead to the $1.38 million salary they’d agreed to in the first place.

43. Steve Whitmire

Project: Sesame Street

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Fired and replaced by Matt Vogel

Sesame Street has been a long-running kids’ program for decades, and it is a fond childhood memory of many people. Behind the scenes, Sesame Street has had its ups and downs, and there’s no actor for whom that’s more true than Steve Whitmire, who voiced the role of Kermit the Frog.

Whitmire said that Disney fired him after twenty-seven years voicing Kermit because they thought he had been “disrespectful” after he was “outspoken” about “character issues” and salary. Disney had a different take on what happened, saying they fired Whitmire for “unacceptable business conduct” that was “unproductive” and “hostile.”

44. Jaimee Foxworth

Project: Family Matters

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Fired after season four

Jaimee Monae Foxworth played Judy on Family Matters, and her character was a fan favorite. Fans and co-stars alike were stunned when Foxworth was fired. The firing happened slowly, with Foxworth’s scenes getting cut more and more until she was barely a presence on the show.

After season four, she disappeared from the Family Matters lineup, and the show didn’t mention her again. Later, it was revealed that the network fired Foxworth because she asked for a pay raise. Foxworth said that the hostility ran deep, and she was “not invited at all” to any reunions, something she felt was a “slap in the face” with no “good explanation.”

45. Lauren Cohan

Project: The Walking Dead

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Unknown

There were brief rumors that Lauren Cohan was leaving The Walking Dead over a salary dispute, but the actress put those rumors to rest, explaining that she wasn’t leaving the show. She also explained that it wasn’t a dispute, so much as it was a series of “renegotiations.”

Cohan described the renegotiation for a higher salary as “pretty standard,” and said she wouldn’t dream of leaving the show, as her story is “not finished” with TWD. The actress said things were transitioning “into different places,” but that didn’t mean she was “break[ing] up” with the network at all. As to what her proposed salary was or whether the network accepted it, Cohan didn’t say.

46. Will Ferrell

Project: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Proposed Salary: $10-$20 million*

Outcome: Agreed, studio budget expanded

Adam McKay, the writer and director of the second Anchorman movie, revealed that it was not cheap to bring Will Ferrell back for a sequel to the hilarious franchise. Ferrell is one of Hollywood’s most famous actors, and his opening bid for salary can reach $20 million per movie.

The studio had a $35 million salary budget, which was stretched, especially because two Anchorman actors, Paul Rudd and Steve Carrell, had become super-famous in the gap between the films. Eventually, it all worked out, and the budget was upped to $50 million. Ferrell possibly made between $10 and $20 million for his salary as the main star, Ron Burgundy.

47. Keanu Reeves

Project: The Devil’s Advocate

Proposed Salary: $15 million*

Outcome: Agreed to a $2 million pay cut to work with Al Pacino*

This one is a little bit different than the other salary disputes on this list. In this case, beloved actor Keanu Reeves actually took a pay cut in order to work with Al Pacino. If he hadn’t, the studio wouldn’t have been able to hire the veteran actor to star in Devil’s Advocate, which also cast Charlize Theron.

Reeves wanted to work with Pacino, and he was willing to sacrifice a few million to do so. He agreed to the studio’s offer and the 1997 film was a blockbuster hit. It made $153 million at the box office against a $57 million budget.

48. Jason Genao, Brett Gray, Sierra Capri, and Diego Tinoco

Project: On My Block

Proposed Salary: $65,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

On My Block, a teen comedy-drama, stars Jason Genao, Brett Gray, Sierra Capri, and Diego Tinoco. The co-stars of the breakout Netflix series scored big pay raises ahead of OMB’s third season. For the first two seasons, the stars made just $20,000 per episode.

The third season saw them earn more than triple that, as Netflix agreed to pay them $65,000 an episode for a ten-episode season. According to Hollywood Reporter, the deal was only for the third season, which means that, depending on how season three goes, the On My Block stars could ask for another raise for future seasons.

49. NeNe Leakes

Project: Real Housewives of Atlanta

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Denied, Leakes quit the show

Nene Leakes was one of the most popular characters on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. The reality star lashed out at the Real Housewives network, Bravo, for not paying her what she felt she was owed. This salary dispute was one of the reasons that she left the show before season fourteen aired.

Leakes said that she wasn’t surprised that her tenure on RHOA came to an end. She knew that, while the show had made her famous, it had a “flip side,” which was that it was going to “come to an end” or force her to “level off.” She chose the latter when Bravo denied her the salary she asked for.

50. Dylan Minette

Project: 13 Reasons Why

Proposed Salary: $150,000-$200,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

13 Reasons Why was a conversation-provoking Netflix drama about a teenager (played by then-newcomer Katherine Langford) who took her own life. After her death, her crush, Clay, played by Dylan Minette, received a box detailing the “13 Reasons Why” Langford’s character made that fateful decision.

The drama had four seasons, and Minette, who became the main character after the first season, landed a huge salary raise for his work. He was able to score a salary in the reported $150,000-$200,000 range for the later seasons of the drama. His co-stars weren’t too far behind him, making an estimated $135,000-$150,000 per episode. The show was canceled in 2020, as Netflix said it had come to a “natural conclusion.”

51. Jennifer Aniston

Project: Friends

Proposed Salary: Equal pay as a group

Outcome: Agreed

According to Friends star Jennifer Aniston, things weren’t always equal between the costars. Though the group would famously negotiate their way into $1 million an episode, it wasn’t always that way. There was a pay gap between some of the costars.

Aniston said that she and her co-stars were paid $22,500 per episode during the first season but, by season two, she and David Schwimmer were out-earning everyone else. Before season three, she, Schwimmer, and the rest of the Friends stars negotiated their contract as a group to ensure that they all got paid the same. That worked, and they set the bar for salary negotiations in TV going forward.

52. Ethan Hawke

Project: The Purge

Proposed Salary: “Friends and family discount”

Outcome: Agreed

The Purge is one of contemporary film’s most thought-provoking horror movies, and it cost next to nothing to produce. The $3 million budget was, in part, thanks to the movie’s star, Ethan Hawke. Hawke gave director Jason Blum a “friends and family” discount, which allowed him to make the horror flick on a microbudget.

Hawke was a big name at the time, and he ended up being a box office draw. Hawke took next to no money upfront, which meant that the salary saved could be used on the movie itself. When the film did really well, Hawke made far more money than his initial quote would have been.

53. Ryan Reynolds

Project: Deadpool

Proposed Salary: $2 million*

Outcome: Agreed, with backend share of the profits

Ryan Reynolds was the perfect actor to cast in the role of the world’s most sarcastic anti-hero, Deadpool. The Deadpool movie cost just $58 million to produce, which was far less than a lot of other M.C.U. movies. Reynolds took a small $2 million paycheck upfront to play the superhero.

However, it didn’t matter in the end, as the movie was a smash hit. It grossed $780 million, turning Reynold’s payday into ten times what it was worth at first, thanks to a back-end deal of the profits. Reynolds, an experienced Hollywood veteran, must have realized ahead of time that Deadpool would be a success.

54. Sienna Miller

Project: 21 Bridges

Proposed Salary: Unknown, but Chadwick Boseman offered to take a pay cut

Outcome: Agreed, Miller was paid equally to Boseman

Actress Sienna Miller starred alongside Chadwick Boseman in 21 Bridges, a 2019 thriller. After Boseman passed away, Miller revealed that she wouldn’t have made the salary she did if it weren’t for Boseman advocating on her behalf.

Boseman, who died after a secret battle with cancer at the age of 43, took a pay cut so that he and Miller could get paid equally. Miller said that the act was a “testament to who [Boseman] was.” Miller described Boseman’s generosity as the “most astounding thing” that she’d ever witnessed in Hollywood. Without him giving her some of his salary, there would have been a massive pay gap between the two.

55. Gaten Matarazzo

Project: Stranger Things

Proposed Salary: $200,000-$250,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

The Stranger Things cast was able to use their success in the show to leverage a higher salary for themselves. Though star Gaten Matarazzo didn’t make what Millie Bobby Brown made (around $350,000 an episode for season three), he still was able to negotiate an impressive salary between $200,000 and $250,000 an episode.

At his young age, Matarazzo has a net worth of around $5 million, much of which comes from his work on the sci-fi/horror show, which catapulted to fame after its first season. Stranger Things’ third season broke viewership records for its third season, which saw Matarazzo net $220,000 an episode.

56. Steve Carell

Project: Anchorman 2

Proposed Salary: Unknown, but offered a pay cut

Outcome: Agreed, Carell and others took a pay cut

By the time Anchorman 2 came out, Steve Carell, along with his costars Paul Rudd and David Koechner, were at star status. They were far more well-known than they’d been when the first Anchorman movie, which starred Will Ferrell, was released.

At the time of Anchorman 2, Carell’s ask for movies was $12 million, if not more. However, he and his costars were determined to make the movie. When asked about salary, Will Ferrell admitted that he, Carrell, and the others took a “huge pay cut” because they wanted to make the movie so badly. Anchorman 2 grossed $173.6 million at the box office.

57. Brad Pitt

Project: Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Proposed Salary: $10 million* (50% Pay Cut)

Outcome: Agreed

Brad Pitt is one of the most famous actors in the world, and he makes between $10 and $20 million per movie. For his role in the Quentin Tarantino film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, he made $10 million. The actor took a $10 million pay cut, along with his co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio, because they wanted to work with the famous director.

The large ensemble cast had some huge names to it, including Margot Robbie. To get everyone into the film, people would have to take pay cuts. They did, and the movie ended up being one of the most successful movies of the year.

58. George Clooney

Project: Ocean’s Eleven

Proposed Salary: $20 million*

Outcome: Agreed

Ocean’s Eleven had a large ensemble cast, and the star of the movie was George Clooney. He made a career-high of $20 million for the film. Though producers weren’t sure about the salary at first, they knew the movie wouldn’t get off the ground without Clooney’s face on the s.

Ocean’s Eleven ended up being a smash-hit success, grossing $450.73 million at the box office (twenty years later, in today’s money, that number is around $691.5 million). Reportedly, in order to convince Julia Roberts to do the money for less, Clooney sent her the script with a $20 bill attached. Joke or not, it worked.

59. Leonardo DiCaprio

Project: Inception

Proposed Salary: Pay cut with first-dollar gross points

Outcome: Agreed, ended up being $50 million*

Leonardo DiCaprio took a bet when it came to Inception, and that bet paid off. To star in the trippy thriller, he took a huge pay cut. The Christopher Nolan film was, according to the Titanic star, very “risky.”

He agreed to a pay cut upfront but said that he and Nolan would split the film’s first-dollar gross points. That paid off, and he ended up making $50 million from the film. That $50 million paycheck ended up being a career-high for the actor. Inception was a huge box office draw that year, grossing $836.8 million at the box office.

60. Matthew McConaughey

Project: Dallas Buyers Club

Proposed Salary: $200,000*

Outcome: Agreed

Matthew McConaughey is one of acting’s superstars, and he had an ask in the millions when he agreed to make Dallas Buyers Club. The Oscar-worthy film was a far different role than anything that McConaughey had done in the past.

He took a pay cut to make the movie, getting only $200,000 for the film, which was shot on a $5 million budget. The actor dropped forty pounds to play the main character in the film, which also starred Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner. The movie netted McConaughey an Oscar, so, salary aside, he got his just due for his amazing performance.

61. Bill Murray

Project: Rushmore

Proposed Salary: $9,000*

Outcome: Agreed

Director Wes Anderson said that actor Bill Murray walked away with less than $10,000 after he filmed Rushmore. The shockingly low salary was the minimum SAG rate required for a writer’s performance, and Anderson said that Murray’s experience was invaluable in the film.

He said that working with an actor as high-profile and beloved as Bill Murray could have been “intimidating,” but the actor made it “not intimidating.” For his part, Murray didn’t seem to mind the huge, multimillion-dollar pay cut. He said in an interview that Rushmore was the first movie he’d done in a long time that was “completely whole…writing-wise.”

62. Jim Carrey

Project: The Truman Show

Proposed Salary: $12 million*

Outcome: Agreed

The Truman Show starred Jim Carrey and Laura Linney. At the time of filming in the nineties, Carrey could have commanded a $20 million paycheck. However, he took an $8 million pay cut, instead making just $12 million from the film. The Truman Show’s budget was $60 million, and it grossed $264.1 million at the box office.

Carrey made the film for less because he wanted to take the opportunity to solidify himself as more than just a comedian. He wanted to star in a drama, showing that he had a depth that people hadn’t realized before. It worked, and The Truman Show remains one of Carrey’s most critically acclaimed performances to this day.

63. Hugh Jackman

Project: Logan

Proposed Salary: Unknown, but offered a pay cut to secure an R-rating

Outcome: Agreed to the pay cut

Logan was a gritty superhero film that was unlike anything the M.C.U. had put out before. The film made $619 million at the box office, and it starred Hugh Jackman in his final Wolverine role. According to James Mangold, the director of Logan, Jackman agreed to take a pay cut so that the movie could be rated R.

Jackman wanted to make a rated-R Wolverine film for his last hurrah and he was no doubt inspired by the success of Deadpool, which was R-rated and broke several box office records. Mangold said that the extra money gave him and Jackman the chance to make an “aggressive, classical” action film.

64. Jack Black

Project: Pick of Destiny

Proposed Salary: $500,000*

Outcome: Agreed

The Pick of Destiny was Jack Black’s passion project. It starred Jack Black and Kyle Gass as two musicians who embarked on a quest to find a guitar pick that possessed supernatural powers. Though the film was a bit of a box office flop, the musical fantasy was written by Black, in addition to him producing and starring in the movie.

To make The Pick of Destiny, Black had to take a pay cut. Normally, he would make $12 million a movie, but he waived that salary, instead splitting a $1 million check with Kyle Gass. He also got a 10% backend deal, but, because the movie grossed so little money, that ended up being next to nothing.

65. Courteney Cox

Project: Friends

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode for seasons nine and ten*

Outcome: Agreed

Friends is one of the most lucrative sitcoms in the history of television. Courteney Cox and her co-stars weren’t paid very much when the show began (around $21,500 an episode), but, as Friends became a money-making machine, that changed.

By season three, she and her co-stars began negotiating as a group, ensuring that they’d all be paid equally. They negotiated a $75,000-per-episode salary for the third season, and the Friends eventually bargained their way into $1 million per episode salaries for seasons nine and ten. This set the bar for TV actors’ and actresses’ negotiations, and the $1 million per episode salary remains famous in the history of television.

66. Angelina Jolie

Project: Beowulf

Proposed Salary: $8 million*

Outcome: Agreed

Angelina Jolie is one of the highest-paid actresses in film. Though she is focusing on her family and activism more now, she still occasionally acts, and she rakes in a $20 million paycheck every time she sets foot onto the big screen.

That wasn’t the case with Beowulf, however, and Jolie actually took a $12 million pay cut to make the film, cashing an $8 million check instead. Jolie played Grendel’s mother in the 2007 film, reprising a harrowing, vicious creature hell-bent on revenge against the warrior (played by Ray Winstone). The film made $195 million at worldwide box offices.

67. Claire Foy

Project: The Crown

Proposed Salary: $275,000 per episode*

Outcome: Agreed

The uproar over Claire Foy’s salary on The Crown was one of the reasons that Foy was able to quadruple her salary for later seasons. The Crown was a breakout hit on Netflix, and Foy was paid just $40,000 an episode for the first season, a number described as “humiliating” and “embarrassing” by the tabloids.

The public outrage about the pay gap between her and her male co-stars struck a chord with producers, and Foy was able to negotiate a $275,000 per episode salary for later seasons, effectively putting an end to The Crown’s wage-gap-induced public relations problem.

68. John Travolta

Project: Pulp Fiction

Proposed Salary: $150,000*

Outcome: Agreed

At the time that Quentin Tarantino made Pulp Fiction, the director hadn’t become legendary quite yet. He was an up-and-comer, but he had yet to truly have his breakout movie. Pulp Fiction, which starred John Travolta as Vincent Vega, would be that breakout film.

Travolta agreed to a surprisingly small salary for the film. He made just $150,000 for the project, millions less than the Grease heartthrob could have commanded. There were a lot of stars in the film, and the main cast’s salaries worked to about $20,000 a week, according to producer Lawrence Bender, who wanted the cast’s salaries to be equal.

69. Chris Evans

Project: Captain America

Proposed Salary: $1 million* (Including Back-End Deal)

Outcome: Agreed

Chris Evans joined Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s top earners bracket, thanks to his years-long role as Captain America. Now, Cap is played by a very deserving Anthony Mackie, but we can’t forget the Evans era as the beloved superhero.

For the first movie, Chris Evans was paid $300,000 in base salary. He also managed to negotiate a back-end deal for himself and, as a result, he made $1 million from Captain America: The First Avenger. By Avengers: Endgame, his final appearance in the red, white, and blue uniform, he was able to negotiate a $20 million salary.

70. Jamie Dornan

Project: Fifty Shades of Grey

Proposed Salary: $6.23 million for two movies*

Outcome: Agreed

When Jamie Dornan made the first Fifty Shades of Grey movie, he was paid just $250,000, plus a slice of the gross profits. But, he didn’t make any money from a back-end deal. When the time came to renegotiate his contract for the steamy thriller series, he didn’t hesitate to ask for a far higher salary.

Dornan and his co-star, Dakota Johnson, got a huge pay bump for the next two Fifty Shades films. He made $6.23 million for the final movies in the series. Reportedly, he wasn’t even going to do the project because he was worried about the racier scenes in the film, but the millions in salary changed his mind.

71. Ryan Gosling

Project: Half Nelson

Proposed Salary: $1,000 a week*

Outcome: Agreed

Ryan Gosling is one of the biggest names in Hollywood, having starred in movies like La La Land and The Notebook. He didn’t always command the $2 million per movie salary that he has now, however. When he was filming Half Nelson, a 2006 drama, he made just $1,000 per week. That worked out to a paycheck of $3,200 for the whole movie.

For his role in the film, Gosling was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. It helped him promote his career as a serious actor, and his role as a drug-addicted, conflicted teacher and mentor remains one of his most critically praised features.

72. Matt LeBlanc

Project: Friends

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode for seasons nine and ten*

Outcome: Agreed

For his work on the show Friends, Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani in the series, was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Like his fellow Friends cast members, he made $22,500 an episode for the first season.

As time went on, that changed. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer, his co-stars, both took pay cuts so that the cast could negotiate as a group. By seasons nine and ten, Friends was such a successful show that LeBlanc and his co-stars were able to negotiate a $1 million per episode salary. Not bad, considering that the first thing LeBlanc bought with his salary was, according to the actor, “a hot meal.”

73. Jon Heder

Project: Napoleon Dynamite

Proposed Salary: $1,000 plus a backend deal*

Outcome: Agreed

The 2004 movie Napoleon Dynamite helped propel Jon Heder to stardom. The film grossed millions at the box office, surprising everyone with its success. It was filmed on a $400,000 budget, and only $1,000 of that went to Jon Heder’s base salary in the film, despite Heder being the main character.

When Heder saw how the film was taking off, he was able to renegotiate his salary, tacking on a back-end deal that netted him some of the profits of the movie. Considering the fact that Napoleon Dynamite grossed $46.1 million at the box office, that renegotiation was a slam-dunk.

74. Jon Voight

Project: Midnight Cowboy

Proposed Salary: $0*

Outcome: Agreed, but took home $17,000 in the end*

Actor Jon Voight has Midnight Cowboy to thank for propelling his career. Midnight Cowboy, released in 1969, starred Voight as Joe Buck, a dishwasher who turns into a hustler. The gritty drama won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Voight was so desperate for the role that he originally agreed to do it for free. However, thankfully, the producers didn’t take him up on that offer. They paid him $17,000 for the role, which was still pretty low. Voight described his salary for the Oscar-winning film as minimal, though, seeing the way his career took off, it’s doubtful he regrets taking the job.

75. Paul Rudd

Project: Anchorman 2

Proposed Salary: Unknown, but it was a confirmed pay decrease

Outcome: Accepted, Rudd and his co-stars took a pay cut

When Anchorman first came out, the stars of the movie, save for Will Ferrell, weren’t as well known as they were when the second Anchorman film was released. Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Steve Carell all rose to Hollywood stardom, releasing several big projects in the nine-year gap between the first and second films.

The Anchorman 2 cast, Rudd included, all took a huge pay cut in order to make the movie work. Rudd returned as Brian Fantana, a field reporter, and he didn’t seem to be devastated by the pay cut, saying that there were many “false starts” before the “stars aligned” and production on Anchorman 2 began.

76. David Schwimmer

Project: Friends

Proposed Salary: $100,000 per episode* (Season 3)

Outcome: Accepted, took a pay cut

Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer were the two most popular characters on Friends, according to the network. However, with that popularity came salary disputes. The cast was close in real-life, and Schwimmer and Aniston didn’t want money to come between them.

The two, who played Ross and Rachel on the hit sitcom, both took a pay cut so that everyone could get paid the same amount. However, that pay cut didn’t exactly send them to the poorhouse. Schwimmer and his co-stars made $100,000 an episode for the third season of the show, and, by the final season, the entire cast made $1 million an episode.

77. Chadwick Boseman

Project: 21 Bridges

Proposed Salary: Unknown, but it was a pay decrease (voluntary)

Outcome: Accepted, he gave some of his salary to Sienna Miller, his co-star

Chadwick Boseman is one of the most beloved late actors in Hollywood. The Black Panther star tragically died of cancer in 2020 after a private battle with the illness. One of the last movies he made was 21 Bridges, an action-thriller starring him and Sienna Miller.

After he passed on, Miller revealed that her co-star actually took a pay decrease in order to ensure that the two of them were paid the same. Miller said that Boseman “ended up donating” part of his salary to get her the figure she “had asked for.” According to Miller, Boseman said that that number was what she “deserved to be paid.”

78. Brad Pitt

Project: Inglourious Basterds

Proposed Salary: $10 million, plus royalties*

Outcome: Accepted

Brad Pitt starred in Inglourious Basterds as Lt. Aldo Raine, an Allied officer who assembles a team of Jewish soldiers to scalp Nazis. The movie got an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the movie made $321.5 million at the box office. It won awards at Cannes, too.

The movie, which was directed by Quentin Tarantino, would have been nothing without Brad Pitt in the leading role. Pitt actually took a pay cut, decreasing his base salary to $10 million, in exchange for a part of the profit when the movie hit the box office. It’s not the first Tarantino project he’s done that on, either; Pitt took the same base salary for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

79. George Clooney

Project: Good Night, and Good Luck

Proposed Salary: $3*

Outcome: Accepted

George Clooney wrote, directed, and starred in Good Night, and Good Luck, a historical drama that took viewers back to the Joseph McCarthy era, when the Senator began his high-stakes campaign to root out “Communists” in America. The movie was described as a “passionate cinematic civics lesson.”

Clooney’s salary for the film was $3. He made $1 for writing, $1 for directing, and $1 for acting in the movie. As a result, Good Night, and Good Luck cost just $7.5 million to make. Clooney was passionate about the project, which looked at an atrocious period in American history, and he didn’t mind cutting his pay to next to nothing to make the film.

80. Leonardo DiCaprio

Project: J. Edgar

Proposed Salary: $2 million*

Outcome: Accepted, took a 90% pay cut

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. The actor’s ask has climbed to $20 million a movie, and he pretty much always gets what he wants, as the box office gross from having his name attached to the film will far surpass a hefty salary.

However, things went a bit differently when it came to J. Edgar. DiCaprio took a 90% pay cut to make the Clint Eastwood film, which was a deep look at the former head of the F.B.I. The film made $84.9 million at the box office against a $35 million budget. Of that budget, just $2 million went to DiCaprio’s base salary.

81. Adam Levine

Project: Begin Again

Proposed Salary: $0*

Outcome: Accepted

Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine is a pretty big name in Hollywood, but you’d be surprised to find out that he was paid very little to star in the movie Begin Again. According to Levine, his salary for Begin Again was $0.

In an interview about the indie flick, he said, “I did [Begin Again] for no money.” He said he was “lucky” to be in a position where he could work on a project for free. Levine said that he treated acting “completely differently” because he was “fortunate” enough to have the “luxury” of not thinking about the profession in terms of money. Considering he gets paid $14 million to be on The Voice as a judge, he’s probably right.

82. Jonah Hill

Project: The Wolf of Wall Street

Proposed Salary: $60,000*

Outcome: Agreed

People were shocked when Jonah Hill took a huge pay cut to work on The Wolf of Wall Street. He made just $60,000 for the film, while Leonardo DiCaprio made $10 million. During an interview with shock jock Howard Stern, Hill explained his decision to take a huge pay cut, explaining that it was voluntary.

He wanted to work with director Martin Scorsese, saying that the opportunity was too good to pass up. Hill said he would “sell [his] house” and “give [Scorsese] all [his] money” just to work for him. Hill got his wish, though his wallet was lighter for it—not that he seemed to mind.

83. Tom Cruise

Project:

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Proposed Salary: $12 million* (Base)

Outcome: Accepted

Tom Cruise is one of the most famous actors of all time, so it might surprise you that he made just $12 million as a base salary for the movie Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol. However, don’t let that low base number fool you, as Cruise took a hefty chunk of the box office profits.

At the end of the day, he made $75 million from the 2011 installment of the popular action-adventure series. After raking in that much money, he was given a spot on Forbes’ “Most Powerful Actors” list in 2012. Henry Cavill, by contrast, took a $20 million base salary for MIGP, with less of a cut of the box office profits.

84. Lindsay Lohan

Project: The Canyons

Proposed Salary: $6,480*

Outcome: Accepted

When you think about how much money teen star Lindsay Lohan made back in her heyday, the figure we’re about to tell you will come as a shock. At her career peak, Lohan was making around $7.5 million a movie.

For The Canyons, a dark thriller about a love affair between two Angelenos, Lohan made just $100 per day. That figure worked out to $6,480. Shortly after she shot the movie, she was paid $2 million for a reality show documenting her attempt to rebuild her life after a rollercoaster ride of personal drama. Hopefully, Lohan gets back to where she was at her peak.

85. Matt Damon

Project: Monuments Men

Proposed Salary: $1.5-$2 million, plus backend deal*

Outcome: Accepted

Monuments Men starred a list of heavy-hitter Hollywood stars, including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, and John Goodman. With a cast like that, you probably think that the budget for the film would have been out of control. It’s true that it was pricey, with the historical thriller costing $70 million to make.

To make Monuments Men, Matt Damon and his co-stars all took a pay cut. According to Clooney, everyone worked for “crazy cheap.” They made one-tenth of their normal salary (around $1.5-$2 million for Damon), but they got a backend deal when the movie was released. Monuments Men made $155 million at the box office in 2014.

86. Grace Park

Project: Hawaii Five-O

Proposed Salary: $200,000 an episode*

Outcome: Denied, Park was not given the salary she wanted, so she left the show

Grace Park starred as Kono Kalakaua on Hawaii Five-O, a police procedural about cops working in Hawaii. Kalakaua left the series in 2017, explaining that she was fed up with the pay inequality. Both she and Daniel Dae Kim left for the same reason: they weren’t being paid as much as their white, male co-stars.

Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin made $200,000 an episode, and, when Park requested that same salary amount, she was denied. Negotiations were unsuccessful, and she was forced to leave the show, along with Kim. Park said she chose to leave the show because it was “what was best for [her] integrity.”

87. George Eads

Project: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Proposed Salary: $120,000 per episode* (Proposed by CBS)

Outcome: Attempted to strike, was fired for it

For this one, it was CBS who proposed the salary arrangement to George Eads, the star of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, not the other way around. Eads was five years into his seven-year contract with the network. He was making $100,000 an episode when CBS proposed a change.

They wanted to extend his contract by a year (making it eight years) and pay him $120,000 per episode. Eads thought he could finagle his way into more money, so he attempted to strike. He didn’t show up to work on the first day of filming season five. That backfired, and he was sent packing by the network.

88. Kirstie Alley

Project: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Proposed Salary: Unknown, but the director called Alley’s demand “excessive”

Outcome: Denied, Alley left and was replaced by Robin Curtis

Kirstie Alley was a well-known presence in Star Trek by the time the third movie, The Search for Spock, rolled around. She had already starred in Star Trek II, and fans seemed to like her. Alley was displeased, before filming the third movie, to find that her salary packet had changed.

For The Search for Spock, she would be paid less money than she had been for Star Trek II. She attempted to negotiate an equal, if not higher, payday for herself, but producers held firm. As a result, Alley declined to return for the third movie. Leonard Nimoy, the director, called Alley’s salary demands “excessive” and replaced her with Robin Curtis.

89. Terry Farrell

Project: Deep Space Nine

Proposed Salary: N/A, no renegotiation attempt

Outcome: Accepted, the studio killed off her character

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has a committed fanbase, and the fans were usually on-board with whatever the writers and directors chose, plot-wise. However, fans were unusually displeased with the writers’ choice to kill off Jadzia Dax, who was played by actress Terry Farrell.

Dax’s death had more to do with the off-scene drama than anything DS9-related. Farrell said that she wanted to leave the show because of issues with Rick Berman, who she called “misogynistic.” Farrell also was upset because she wasn’t getting paid enough to deal with Berman, and her schedule was “chaotic.” When her contract expired, she chose to leave without attempting to renegotiate.

90. Hervé Villechaize

Project: The Fantastic Island

Proposed Salary: $40,000 per episode*

Outcome: Denied, Villechaize was fired and replaced by Christopher Hewett

The fantasy-drama Fantasy Island aired on ABC in the late seventies and early eighties. The show starred Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Roarke. Herve Villechaize starred as Tattoo, his assistant. Guests staying on the island were granted their wildest dream—for a price.

Though Villechaize was well-liked by the public, he was a difficult actor to deal with behind the scenes. He argued with producers and propositioned women on the set. Villechaize was making $25,000 an episode at Fantasy Island’s peak, but he demanded a salary of $40,000 an episode, the same as Ricardo Montalban. Fed-up producers said no, and he was fired and replaced by Christopher Hewett.

91. Nicollette Sheridan

Project: Desperate Housewives

Proposed Salary: $175,000 per episode*

Outcome: Accepted, but there would be tons of drama later on

Desperate Housewives was a lot of drama on the screen, and there was just as much drama on the set as well. Nicolette Sheridan, in happier times, made $175,000 per episode, an increase from $125,000. In that case, she got what she asked for.

As time went on, however, Sheridan bumped heads with Marc Cherry, the showrunner. Things went so far that she was terminated from the show after alleging that Cherry slapped her (Cherry, for his part, said he merely “tapped her head”). Sheridan sued for $20 million in damages for wrongful termination, but her case was dismissed by an L.A. judge.

92. Selma Blair

Project: Anger Management

Proposed Salary: $40,000 per episode*

Outcome: Accepted, but she was fired by Charlie Sheen later

In the case of Selma Blair, there wasn’t a salary dispute at the heart of why she was fired from Anger Management, a sitcom starring herself, Charlie Sheen, Noureen DeWulf, and Shawnee Smith. At the peak of the show, Blair was paid $40,000 per episode.

The conflict centered around her and her eccentric co-star Charlie Sheen, who played Charlie Good on the show, which had two seasons. Apparently, Blair criticized Charlie Sheen’s work ethic, and that led to her being abruptly fired. FX insiders claimed that the showrunners were considering writing Blair out already, and her sparring with Sheen only hastened the decision.

93. The Duck Dynasty Cast

Project: Duck Dynasty

Proposed Salary: $200,000 per episode*

Outcome: Accepted Duck Dynasty

is a TV show about a bunch of people who live in a swamp. Starring the Robertson family, the reality series took fans behind the scenes of a Louisiana family that makes their money from duck hunting, specifically their company, Duck Commanders, which makes duck decoys and duck calls. Willie Robertson, the family’s patriarch, is worth $40 million.

The cast of Duck Dynasty asked for $200,000 an episode in later seasons of the show, which ran from 2012 until 2017. A&E agreed, and the cast not only got a salary bump, they also got government benefits worth $70,000 for every episode the Robertsons shot.

94. Carroll O’Connor

Project: All in the Family

Proposed Salary: $30,000 per episode*

Outcome: Accepted

Carroll O’Conner starred as Archie Bunker on the sitcom All in the Family. Salary negotiations with the actor resulted in him getting paid around $30,000 per episode. The road to this peaceful ending wasn’t exactly smooth. O’Connor walked out during filming because he didn’t like his contract in the third season.

The show was doing well in the ratings when O’Connor started his semi-strike, and Norman Lear, the show’s producer, was concerned about how he would write around O’Connor’s absence. The “Where’s Archie?” episode was taped at the height of the drama, and it was supposed to be O’Connor’s last episode if negotiations fell through. They didn’t, and O’Connor stayed with the show. “Where’s Archie?” aired in the fifth season, no kill-off required.

95. Matthew Perry

Project: Friends

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode* (Later Seasons)

Outcome: Accepted, thanks to group bargaining

Matthew Perry played Chandler on the hit sitcom Friends, and, like his co-stars, he benefited from group bargaining. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer took pay cuts so that everyone would be paid the same, and the cast, as a rule, bargained collectively. In Friends’ later years, Perry and his co-stars made $1 million an episode, setting a salary milestone for TV actors.

The Canadian-American actor kept his income afloat after the show ended through revenue from reruns. Things didn’t always go smoothly for Perry, who revealed at the Friends reunion that he battled addiction and health issues after the sitcom ended. Unfortunately, perry passed away in 2023.

96. Tom Wopat

Project: The Dukes of Hazzard

Proposed Salary: Unknown, but wanted more than $26,000 in royalties

Outcome: Fired by Warner Bros., replaced by Christopher Mayer

Tom Wopat became famous as Luke Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard, a long-running action-comedy series. Wopat’s salary per episode wasn’t the issue, so much as his demand for royalties. He and his co-star, John Schneider (Bo Duke), got into a dispute with Warner Bros. about royalties.

Wopat and Schneider were only paid around $26,000 in royalties for Dukes. This was shocking, as the show had pulled in around $200 million in sales of merchandise alone. Wopat and Schneider sued Warner Bros., but the Duke boys didn’t get their due. Instead, Bo and Luke were replaced by Vance and Coy.

97. Chuck Woolery

Project: Wheel of Fortune

Proposed Salary: $10,000 per week*

Outcome: Counteroffer of $7,500 per week, Woolery refused and left the show as a result

Pat Sajak has become the name most often associated with Wheel of Fortune, but, before Sajak, there was Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford. Woolery and Stafford hosted WoF from 1975 to 1981. The two left over a salary dispute with Merv Griffin, the creator of the show, and NBC.

Woolery was initially paid $5,000 per week, but he wanted an increase to $10,000 per week to host. He said that there was an increase in viewers because of his work, so he deserved the pay rise. Griffin offered him $7,500 a week, and NBC offered to pay another $2,500. Griffin didn’t like NBC caving to Woolery, and the creator threatened to take Wheel of Fortune to CBS. NBC rescinded their offer, and Woolery refused the $7,500 per week offer. He left in December of 1981.

98. Jim Carrey

Project: Yes Man

Proposed Salary:

$0 plus a backend deal of 36.2% of the movie’s profits*

Outcome: Accepted, Carrey ended up making $35 million

Jim Carrey starred as Carl Allen in Yes Man. In the movie, Allen was a negative man who decides to totally change his attitude, saying “yes” to everything instead of his usual “no.” The comedy made $223.2 million at the box office, netting Jim Carrey $35 million.

That figure was amazing, considering that Carrey did the movie for $0. He agreed to a zero-dollar salary in exchange for a hefty backend deal worth 36.2% of the movie’s profits. Carrey bet on his own comedic ability, as well as his knack for drawing audiences to the theater. Clearly, his unusual bargain paid off.

99. Brad Pitt (Again)

Project: Ocean’s Eleven

Proposed Salary: $10 million, plus a backend deal*

Outcome: Accepted

Ocean’s Eleven had quite the ensemble cast, starring Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Don Cheadle, and more. To fit all of these stars into the movie, the budget should have been insanely high. But the movie’s producers came up with an alternative arrangement.

The stars worked for a comparatively low base pay (Pitt made $10 million, about half of his normal ask), in exchange for a backend deal that would net them a lot of money if the movie was successful. Ocean’s Eleven made $450.7 million, and Pitt walked away with a bankroll as a result.

100. Amitabh Bachchan

Project: Black

Proposed Salary: $0*

Outcome: Accepted

Adapted from The Miracle Worker, Black was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The drama focused on two parents whose daughter was born hearing- and vision-impaired. The parents isolate the daughter, causing behavioral issues that get even worse until an eccentric teacher, played by Amitabh Bachchan, offers help.

Bachchan made the movie for free. He said that he was just glad to work with Bhansali on the film. For his role in Black, Bachchan won a National Award. The veteran actor described the film, experience, and director as “amazing.” Black made $5.52 million at the box office when it was released in 2005.

101. Cote de Pablo

Project: NCIS
Proposed Salary: $120,000+*
Outcome: Left

Ever since her character was first introduced in season 3 of NCIS, Cote de Pablo’s Ziva was a firm fan favorite. So, when she left quite suddenly in season 10 of the show, longtime watchers were shocked. Cote explained the decision later on, saying it was not something she “toyed with” and at times, was “terrifying.”

According to the actress, it was less about salary negotiations and more about the writers being able to present an arc that she felt was worthy for the character. Ziva did make a brief comeback in seasons 16 and 17, but it doesn’t look like Cote is back on the main roster.

102. Wayne Rogers

Project: M*A*S*H

Proposed Salary: $55,000+*

Outcome: Left

Wayne Rogers delighted fans on M*A*S*H for the first three seasons as Trapper, so his decision to leave was quite shocking to everyone involved. Rogers said at the time that he didn’t want to be typecast and wanted to expand his career, although some believed it was due to his salary.

Most interestingly, producers tried to sue Rogers for a breach of contract, before realizing that he never signed his original contract at all. It went undetected right until the time he left. Rogers later said he didn’t regret his decision to leave.

103. Tom Selleck

Project: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Left

In this case, this isn’t really an issue of salary negotiation, though it is a story full of drama. For years, Harrison Ford has admitted (and joked about) the fact that he was the third choice to play the iconic character of Indiana Jones. The first choice was Tom Selleck.

The Blue Bloods star hit back against rumors that he turned down the role, saying he “earned the part” fair and square. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get out of another contract he was in at the time, and, therefore, he wasn’t able to play the famous adventurer.

104. Christopher Meloni

Project: Law and Order: SVU

Proposed Salary: $10 million per season*

Outcome: Accepted

It’s impossible to think of Law & Order: SVU without Christopher Meloni. The actor has seen his and co-star Mariska Hargitay’s salaries increase over the years, and he has well-earned it. He reportedly now makes $395,000 an episode. That’s around ten million dollars a season! The only person out-earning him is Mariska Hargitay, who makes $500,000 an episode.

Over the years, Law & Order has had a longer run-time than a lot of shows. The TV industry has seen many projects come and go, but SVU has had continued success because of the show’s narrative structure and endearing characters.

105. Steve Carrell

Project: The Office

Proposed Salary: $300,000 per episode*

Outcome: Left

The Office just wasn’t the same without Steve Carrell, and fans were heartbroken when they learned that he wasn’t going to be reviving his role as Michael Scott. When the seventh-season deadline came in 2009, every Office star but Carrell negotiated for another two seasons. Carrell left, reportedly, because he wanted to spend time with his family.

After a heartbreaking “Goodbye, Michael” episode, Michael Scott’s tenure on the show was over. Carrell had seen his salary climb over the years. During season one, he made $87,000. By the last season, his beloved character was clocking in $300,000 an episode.

106. Dean Norris

Project: Breaking Bad

Proposed Salary: $50,000-$100,000 per episode*

Outcome: Left

In both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Dean Norris portrays Hank Schrader, a DEA agent. Though Norris was attached to his character, he reportedly asked showrunners to kill him off at the beginning of season five. He was about to star Under the Dome, a sci-fi/horror series based on a Stephen King novel.

Norris, who has a net worth of $5 million, made between $50,000 and $100,000 per episode on Breaking Bad, and he reportedly wanted to have Schrader killed off so that he didn’t have to choose between two TV shows. Eventually, during season five of Breaking Bad, Norris got his wish.

107. Jim Parsons

Project: The Big Bang Theory

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*

Outcome: Accepted

As with any successful TV show, there is a huge discrepancy between what leading actors get paid in the first few seasons and what they get paid in the end. Big Bang Theory was one of the most popular sitcoms of the twenty-first century. At the beginning, Jim Parsons, who played Sheldon Cooper on the show, made $60,000 an episode.

By Big Bang’s middle seasons, Cooper was raking in $300,000 an episode, which was on-par with the salaries of hit shows like The Office. When he asked for $1 million an episode in season eight, producers agreed—that’s how popular Big Bang and the character of Sheldon Cooper were.

108. Hugo Weaving

Project: Avengers: Infinity War

Proposed Salary: Lower than previous contracts

Outcome: Left

Hugo Weaving was set to play Red Skull again in Avengers: Infinity War, as well as in Endgame, but he opted out of the role after Marvel wouldn’t pay him the salary he demanded. He said that he “loved” playing the character and thought it was a “lot of fun,” but there were some serious negotiation issues.

His contract had assured Weaving that he’d make more money as the movies progressed, but the offer for Infinity War was lower. He said that the studio tried to refuse to pay him as much because it was a “voice job.” Weaving described the negotiations as “impossible” and said he left out of frustration.

109. David Caruso

Project: NYPD Blue

Proposed Salary: $100,000 per episode*

Outcome: Left

David Caruso was a fan-favorite on NYPD Blue, but the behind-the-scenes drama was almost more theatrical than the show itself. Steven Bochco, the co-creator of the police procedural, wrote a memoir about the show. In it, he called Caruso “impossible” and “cancerous.”

Bochco said that the veteran actor was moody, creating a dysfunctional environment because he felt “empowered” by it. After the first season, Caruso wanted a raise from $40,000 an episode to $100,000 an episode, along with Fridays off, a huge trailer and office suite, and his own $1,000-a-week development executive. Fed up with his antics, NYPD Blue cut Caruso loose four episodes into the second season.

110. Chad Michael Murray

Project: One Tree Hill

Proposed Salary: Over $100,000 per episode*

Outcome: Left

Fans wondered for a long time why Chad Michael Murray, teen heartthrob and the star of One Tree Hill, left the successful teen drama. News broke in 2022 that Lucas Scott was written off the show after a salary dispute between Michael Murray and the producers. Going into the seventh season, the actor asked for a salary raise.

His demands weren’t met. Michael Murray was pretty blunt about it, saying that One Tree Hill was “not bringing [him] back next year” because they “want[ed] to save money.” Despite the acrimonious split between him and producers, Michael Murray still remains friends with his OTH co-stars.

111. Maggie Roswell

Project: The Simpsons

Proposed Salary: $10,000-$50,000 per episode*

Outcome: Left, then returned three years later

Maggie Roswell, an actress, has starred in movies and TV shows like Fire and Ice, Midnight Madness, Mighty Mouse, and, for a brief time, The Simpsons. She voiced Maude Flanders until 1999 when the character was written out of the show after the actress left.

Roswell and Fox had gotten into a pay dispute that year. At the time, the dispute was kept hidden from the press, with FBC saying that Roswell left because she was tired of traveling from Colorado to California for recording sessions. In reality, it was because the studio wouldn’t meet the actress’ pay demands. In 2002, Roswell returned after Fox agreed to let her record her lines at home.

112. Benicio del Toro

Project: Star Trek Into Darkness

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Left

Be aware: this paragraph contains spoilers for Star Trek: Into Darkness. Halfway through STID, it is revealed that Commander John Harrison is actually Khan, a major villain in Star Trek canon. Benedict Cumberbatch is a great choice for this part, but he was not the producers’ first pick.

Oscar-winning actor Benicio del Toro was in negotiations with J.J. Abrams, the director, as Abrams wanted a Latino actor to take the role previously held by Ricardo Montalban. Del Toro, however, eventually turned the role down because Star Trek wouldn’t meet his salary demands. Fans loved Cumberbatch in the role, though, so it worked out in the end.

113. Jonah Hill

Project: The Batman

Proposed Salary: N/A (Negotiations Stalled)

Outcome: Left

Jonah Hill is a popular Hollywood actor, and he can play just about any role. However, if he’s going to play a role, he needs that part to be defined. Reportedly, Jonah Hill was supposed to be either The Riddler or The Penguin, two major D.C. villains, in The Batman. Warner Bros. took too long to make a concrete deal.

The studio couldn’t decide what part he should play or his salary, and Hill felt the negotiations were moving too slowly. So, he walked away from the project, ostensibly to take a job with a studio with a more defined plan.

114. Jerry Seinfeld

Project: Seinfeld

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*

Outcome: Accepted

Jerry Seinfeld is one of Hollywood’s richest actors, with a net worth approaching nearly one billion dollars. Much of that net worth is owed to his eponymous sitcom, Seinfeld, which was a massive hit in the 1990s. Seinfeld made $1 million an episode on the show, a ceiling that few sitcom actors have been able to crack.

However, all was not equal on the set. Though Jerry, obviously, accepted that deal, there were a lot of pay disputes behind the scenes. During the final season of Seinfeld, the cast got famously tough with the studio, demanding $1 million an episode too to make up for royalties that they had been denied. The appeal worked, though they still never got royalties.

115. Will Ferrell

Project: Elf 2

Proposed Salary: $29 million*

Outcome: Left

Will Ferrell and Jon Favreau, the star and director of Elf, respectively, did not get along on set. While it’s hard to imagine anyone not getting along with Will Ferrell, the dispute was pretty heated. Ferrell has been candid in the past that he’s turned down the option of a second Elf movie, even though he was offered $29 million.

According to the comedian, he turned down the offer because he is “honest.” Ferrell said that he would have had to admit that the movie was “not good” but he only made it because he “couldn’t turn down” $29 mil. Ferrell said he couldn’t bring himself to “say those words,” so he walked away.

116. Keanu Reeves

Project: Speed 2

Proposed Salary: $12 million*

Outcome: Left

Keanu Reeves was offered twelve million dollars to return as Jack Traven in Speed 2. The sequel was on the heels of the first Speed, which was a massive hit that made $350.5 million at worldwide box offices against a $35 million production budget. It’s no surprise that the studio wanted to make a second one.

Reeves turned down that salary because he didn’t like the script. Also, he felt as though he didn’t need the money because Speed had been so successful. Thirdly, Reeves was not “mentally and physically” ready to star in an action film, as he had just completed the 1996 thriller

Chain Reaction.

117. Sean Connery

Project: Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Proposed Salary: $450 million* (Total)

Outcome: Left

According to NME, it has been estimated that Sean Connery’s turn-down of the Lord of the Rings trilogy cost him nearly half a billion dollars in the end. Connery was set to play Gandalf in the movie, a role that later went to Ian McKellen.

Connery turned down the megabucks role because he “just didn’t get it.” To be fair, LOTR isn’t for everyone. The medieval fantasy, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, was a smash hit at the box office, grossing billions. However, not everyone, it seems, is a fan of wizards, hobbits, orcs, and elves.

118. Dave Chappelle

Project: Chappelle’s Show

Proposed Salary: $50 million*

Outcome: Left

For two seasons, Dave Chappelle delivered great sketch comedy on Chappelle’s Show, his landmark CC series. The show was a huge hit, and Comedy Central offered Chappelle $50 million to continue. Then, the comedian did something extremely unexpected. He walked away, seeming to quit comedy for good.

Despite the money, Chappelle later told talk show host David Letterman that he left because people were laughing at him, not with him. He was filming a certain sketch, and he heard a crew member laugh at something that wasn’t meant to be funny. That changed Chappelle’s perspective, and he began to question whether his show satirized stereotypes or reinforced them.

119. Ja Rule

Project: 2 Fast 2 Furious

Proposed Salary: $500,000*

Outcome: Left

The director of 2 Fast 2 Furious, part of the successful crime-thriller series The Fast and the Furious, spilled the beans two decades later on why rapper Ja Rule wasn’t in the movie. Apparently, Ja Rule refused to reprise his earlier part because he thought he was “too big” for the project. He declined $500,000, which was pretty generous, considering his role was going to be a small one.

The director said Ja Rule got “too big for himself.” It was the rapper’s loss. 2 Fast 2 Furious went on to make $236.4 million at the box office, and it has been one of the series’ best-liked films.

120. Gwyneth Paltrow

Project: Titanic

Proposed Salary: $2 million*

Outcome: Left

Titanic made $2 billion in worldwide profits, and it skyrocketed the careers of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, the two star-crossed lovers in the movie. What people might not know is that actors and actresses like Johnny Depp, Claire Danes, and Gwyneth Paltrow all turned down roles in the drama.

Paltrow turned down $2 million, even though she was perfectly poised to play Rose. She still doesn’t seem sure about why she said no, telling Howard Stern that she often thinks, “Why the hell did I say… no to that?” Though the Goop CEO is somewhat regretful, she says she tries not to dwell on the past.

121. Beyonce

Project: Beauty and the Beast

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Left

Bill Condon, who worked with Beyonce on Dreamgirls, said that he tried to get the superstar singer to agree to the role of Plumette, the singing feather duster, in Beauty and the Beast. Condon said that Beyonce turned down the role because it was “not a big enough part” for her.

To be fair, Beyonce is one of the biggest stars on the planet. Though Condon said she would have “made a good feather duster,” Queen B definitely has the clout to turn down roles she thinks are too small for her. However, she didn’t say no again to Disney when she voiced Nala in The Lion King, a role for which she got a lot of praise and acclaim.

122. Chiwetel Ejiofor

Project: Spectre

Proposed Salary: $1 million too much*

Outcome: Left

Chiwetel Ejiofor is a British actor with a lot of accolades from organizations like BAFTA, the Oscars, the Emmys, and the NAACP, among others. He has starred in films like 12 Years a Slave, Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, Infinity, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, and more.

What you won’t see on his impressive resume is Spectre. Ejiofor was in talks to play an MI6 Bond Boss called “C,” but he wanted a little too much money. According to Vulture, internal memos from Spectre’s producers revealed that the role went to Andrew Scott, who was paid $1 million less than what Ejiofor wanted. Reportedly, the salary cut came from demands from MGM to cut Spectre’s massive budget.

123. Jodie Foster

Project: The Silence of The Lambs 2

Proposed Salary: $20 million*

Outcome: Left

Jodie Foster was replaced with another A-list actress, Julianne Moore, in the second Silence of the Lambs movie. This film was a follow-up to one of the most successful and critically-acclaimed horror films of all time, and Foster turned down $20 million for the role.

The actress said the “official,” “dignified” reason that she said no was that she took another movie role at the time. But, as news broke later, Foster didn’t seem to want to play the role, so it wasn’t solely a matter of scheduling. As her replacement, Moore made just $2 million for Lambs 2.

124. Christian Bale

Project: Fourth Batman Film

Proposed Salary: Over $15 million*

Outcome: Left

Christian Bale and Ben Affleck are both tied in terms of the public’s opinion on who is the better Batman (though there is some pretty heated debate). Bale turned down a fourth Batman film because he wanted to honor director Christopher Nolan’s wishes and only make three movies. According to Bale, he and Nolan were not “arrogant” enough to assume that the studio would let them keep making Batman movies. When the studio did, Bale still said no because he wanted to quit while he was ahead. Nolan and Bale had always said that they would “walk away” after three movies, no matter what the studio offered them.

125. Greg Vaughn

Project: Days of Our Lives

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Left

Greg Vaughn shocked soap opera fans when he announced in 2020 that he would be leaving Days of Our Lives after a decade of his role as Eric Brady. Vaughn said that he began thinking about leaving the role in 2017, as he didn’t feel as though his storyline was “being delivered” in the scripts.

Vaughn said he felt as though he was a “glorified extra” in other peoples’ stories. Despite all that, news broke in 2022 that Vaughn would be returning once again to the soap opera, this time for a permanent stay after he encounters his ex-wife, played by Arianne Zucker.

126. Tom Hiddleston

Project: No Time To Die

Proposed Salary: Undisclosed

Outcome: Left

Recently, Tom Hiddleston was in talks to star as the main villain in the upcoming James Bond movie No Time To Die. However, the studio thought his salary demands of $20 million were too high, and instead they cast Rami Malek.

This wasn’t the first time Tom Hiddleston asked for too much money to be cast in a role. He was also in talks to star in Steve Jobs but was ultimately replaced by Michael Fassbender due to similar financial issues. Hiddleston asked for $8 million, a price tag that was seen as too expensive by the studio.

127. Benedict Cumberbatch

Project: Doctor Strange

Proposed Salary: $9.6 million – rumoured

Outcome: Did the film

When you think of British actors in Hollywood, Benedict Cumberbatch is sure to come to mind. With his critically acclaimed performances in the Sherlock television series and Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cumberbatch has become one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood.

He renegotiated his contract for Doctor Strange 2, which was his second solo movie. Reportedly, Cumberbatch was asking for $9.6 million for the role, which was far too much for Marvel Studios. However, he ended up getting a $1.5 million raise for the combined $6 million he earned for his solo venture and cameos in other Marvel movies.

128. Idris Elba

Project: Major Blockbuster Film

Proposed Salary: $7 million*

Outcome: Left

Idris Elba was up for a role in a major blockbuster film. Despite being a fan favourite for the part, he was ultimately not cast due to his high salary demands. He asked for $20 million, which the studio was not willing to pay. In response, the studio offered him $7 million, but Elba refused.

While he didn’t get the part, his demands were indicative of his value and talent as an actor. He was also in talks to play James Bond in the new iteration of the famous character, but he was deemed too old for the role.

129. Eddie Murphy

Project: Beverly Hill Cop

Proposed Salary: Undisclosed

Outcome: Agreed to play the role

Eddie Murphy is an American actor and comedian who rose to fame in the 1980s with his work on “Saturday Night Live”. In 1984, Murphy starred in the film “Beverly Hills Cop,” which became a massive commercial and critical success. According to some reports, Murphy asked for a fee of $15 million for his role in the film, which was considered a high salary at the time.

“Beverly Hills Cop” was a major turning point in Murphy’s career and helped establish him as a leading actor in Hollywood. The film was released in 1984 and grossed over $230 million at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing films of that year.

130. Jennifer Lawrence

Project: Red Sparrow

Proposed Salary: $20 million

Outcome: Agreed to play the role

Jennifer Lawrence is an American actress who rose to fame with her role as Katniss Everdeen in the “Hunger Games” film series. In 2018, Lawrence starred in the film “Red Sparrow,” in which she played the lead role of Dominika Egorova, a Russian intelligence officer who is trained to become a “sparrow,” a seductive agent who uses her body as a weapon.

According to some reports, Lawrence asked for a salary of $20 million for her role in “Red Sparrow,” which was considered a high salary at the time. According to Parade and Refinery29, she was paid her asking price.

131. Sandra Bullock

Project: Gravity

Proposed Salary: $20 million* Upfront

Outcome: Agreed

Sandra Bullock is one of the most lucrative and desirable stars in Hollywood. An A-lister through and through, she has been ranked high since the 90s. She’s a bankable star guaranteed to rake in millions and knows her worth.

Gravity is one of her best works, along with The Blind Side and The Proposal. She was paid $20 million for this film, which is the standard for most A-listers. However, that’s not all she made. The film was released in 2013 and earned a whopping $723 million worldwide. During negotiations, Bullock allocated a percentage of the film’s profits in her contract, which resulted in her making $70 million for the project.

132. Jared Leto

Project: Suicide Squad

Proposed Salary: $7 million* for 7 minutes

Outcome: Agreed

Whether you love or hate Jared Leto’s Joker, his portrayal helped him cash 7 million for a total of 7 minutes in the 135-minute film. His salary negotiations came after he won the Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club, which tipped the scales in his favor. A proven box office record and award wins make a movie star more desirable, which is exactly what happened in Leto’s case.

Leto was paid a million a minute, which was worthwhile for the production house because the film made $746.8 million at the box office. While Leto’s joker was heavily criticized, he still walked away with a fat paycheck.

133. Adam Sandler

Project: Just Go With It

Proposed Salary: $25 million*

Outcome: Did the project

Sandler has cemented himself as one of the funniest actors of our times. He might be slightly type-cast, but his films have proven to rake in big bucks, which the actor uses to his advantage. His 2011 film, Just Go With It, starring Jennifer Aniston, is one of his best works to date, with punchy comedy and a sweet storyline.

He was paid $25 million for the role, despite his salary seeing a dip in 2008 with his role in Funny People, where he earned $10 million. His negotiation with Columbia Pictures was successful, as he was paid his desired amount when the film was a box-office success.

134. Hilary Swank

Project: Unknown

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: Walked away; someone did it for even less

A two-time Oscar winner, Hilary Swank, has been vocal about the Hollywood wage gap in several interviews. She is well-known for her acting chops and her role in Million Dollar Baby, which credited her as a force in the industry.

In an episode of Women’s Dinner Party, she revealed that after winning her second Academy Award and filming some more movies, she was offered a role that paid her $500,000 while the male actor was offered $10 million despite not having any real success. In the end, the role went to an actress who did it for $50,000, which saved the production house $450,000.

135. Seth Rogen

Project: The Interview

Proposed Salary: $8 million*

Outcome: Went ahead with the project

Seth Rogen has a unique brand of humor that appeals to a large audience, and has the writing and directing skills to produce a solid hit. The Interview was released in 2014 and was subject to heavy controversy with North Korea for the subject matter. Sony Pictures had to re-edit the film to make it more acceptable for North Korea.

Seth Rogen still managed to rake in $8 million for the project, while his co-star James Franco earned a lot less. In addition, the film was not released in theaters; it was only available online.

136. Channing Tatum

Project: Magic Mike XXL

Proposed Salary: $21 million*

Outcome: Did the film

Channing Tatum rose to recognition after his role in Step Up in 2008, where he played a dancer from the streets who goes on to win a competition with Jenna Dewan. His climb to the A-list has been slow and steady, eventually coming to a head with his million-dollar roles in 2012 with 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike. He earned 2 million per film.

Given the roaring success of the buddy-cop comedy and the dance film, Tatum negotiated to get paid even higher for his sequels. His salary for Magic Mike XXL was $21 million, a smart move on the production houses’ part because there is no Magic Mike without Tatum.

137. Dwayne the Rock Johnson

Project: Black Adam

Proposed Salary: $22.5 million*

Outcome: He did the film

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, has had a long journey from WWE to the big screen. He has steadily climbed his way to the top of the A-list, becoming one of the highest-paid actors in the history of Hollywood. He charged top dollar for Black Adam, a whopping $22.5 million, which was barely contested in salary negotiations.

A studio executive shared that the actor justifies his price because most of his work is a box office success. This has proven true with Black Adam, which had a worldwide opening of $391.1 million.

138. Julia Roberts

Project: Valentine’s Day

Proposed Salary: $3 million* for a cameo role

Outcome: Agreed

Julia Roberts is a beloved American actress known as the Queen of Rom Coms in the 90s. Her megawatt smile and her acting chops have garnered her immense success. She has carefully cultivated her worth and knows that she can charge top dollar and get it.

Her role in Pretty Woman paid her a meager $300,000 for a starring role, while her cameo appearance in the blockbuster Valentine’s Day raked in $3 million, which quadrupled to $14 million as per her negotiations to be paid 3% of the film’s gross earnings.

139. Denzel Washington

Project: American Gangster

Proposed Salary: $40 million*

Outcome: The film did not get made, but he was paid anyway

Denzel Washington is an undisputed talent in Hollywood. He rose to the top in the late 90s and early 2000s, earning top dollar for his films in 2003 and 2004 – an easy $20 million a piece.

He negotiated a deal for American Gangster in 2004, charging $40 million for the film, but the film did not get made as it was canceled. However, Washington was still paid his salary because his contract stated that he would get paid no matter what the earnings of the film. Essentially, he got paid $40 million for nothing. Later, when the film was made, he was brought on again for another $20 million.

140. Patricia Arquette

Project: Unknown

Proposed Salary: Same base salary as co-star and the same number of back-end projects

Outcome: She walked away from the project

Patricia Arquette is an Oscar winner who issued a call for equal pay for women in her Oscar acceptance speech. Her fight continues to this day, as she has reported that she is still offered less than her male co-stars, which has led to her turning down several job offers. She is a big advocate of salary negotiation and highly encourages all women to step up.

She shared an incident where negotiations fell through for an unnamed project where she and her co-star were both Oscar winners. The payout structure was unequal, and when she requested that it be changed, her offer was rejected.

141. Jessica Chastain

Project: Unknown

Proposed Salary: $20 million*

Outcome: She turned down the project

Chastain has been drawing attention to the gender pay gap in Hollywood since 2015, when the details about her earnings with The Martian were falsified. She revealed a year later that she made millions less than Matt Damon. According to her, the reported $18 million less than her co-star does not reflect the true numbers of the disparity between the pay.

She has shared that film studios use whatever money not used for the actress’s salary to top up the male actor’s pay. In 2017, she turned down a massive project because the studio refused to pay her the same as her co-star.

142. Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Project: Quantico

Proposed Salary: $300k* per episode

Outcome: She got the raise

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is originally from the Indian film industry, Bollywood, and now she has transitioned over to Hollywood. She has revealed that the budget for the lead female in Bollywood is about 10% of the salary of the male actor.

She had a regular role in Quantico, where she was paid $175K per episode in the first two seasons. For the third season, she approached the studio for negotiations and successfully raised her salary to $300k per episode. She is one of the highest-paid female actors on TV, making about $4 million for her stint in Quantico.

143. Scarlett Johansson

Project: Black Widow

Proposed salary: $20 million* with bonuses

Outcome: Issue settled out of court

Johansson has made a name in Hollywood with her acting chops in several films. She is also widely known for the role of Black Widow, the only female avenger/superhero in the Marvel cinematic universe, for several years.

When Black Widow’s solo film was announced, everyone had high expectations. Johansson was paid $20 million for the project and was meant to receive bonuses from a theatrical run. The film was released on Disney Plus instead, which cost her money, so she sued Disney. The matter was settled out of court, but the amount is unclear.

144. Natalie Portman

Project: Thor Love and Thunder

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: She did the film

Natalie Portman has also been vocal about the pay gap in Hollywood. She shared that she was paid three times less than Ashton Kutcher for No Strings Attached and that she blamed herself because his quote for the film was higher than hers.

Similarly, she was paid only $1 million for Thor Love and Thunder, released in 2022. Her co-star, Chris Hemsworth, was paid $20 million. Her pay does not even make up 1% of the film’s budget. Her other co-star, Christian Bale, was also paid more than her as he earned $10 million for the film.

145. Vanessa Morgan

Project: Riverdale

Proposed Salary: $40,000* per episode

Outcome: She’s paid less

Vanessa Morgan is a well-known Riverdale star who plays the role of Toni Topaz, a bisexual woman who is one-half of a power couple with Cheryl Blossom. The LBGTQ storyline has made waves with the audience, keeping the show popular as more and more people relate to it.

However, Vanessa Morgan is not paid as much as her co-stars. She has raised the issue on Twitter, where she shared that she is the only black series regular and she is paid much less than her co-stars. The exact figure has not been disclosed to the public. She has also raised her voice about black representation in the media.

146. Michelle Williams

Project: Unknown

Proposed Salary: Same as her male co-star

Outcome: Paid equally

Michelle Williams is a four-time Oscar nominee, but she still has to wage war to get paid what she deserves. In a shocking turn of events, she was paid 0.07% of what her co-star, Mark Wahlberg, earned for reshoots in All the Money in the World. She was paid only $1000 while he earned $1.5 million.

Since then, she has raised her voice and enlisted the help of Jessica Chastain to negotiate higher pay and share her story. Recently, she was paid equally as her male co-star for an unnamed project in 2019.

147. Oprah Winfrey

Project: Talk Show

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: The staff got raises

Her story is pretty popular. Oprah Winfrey has shared strong opinions on being paid your worth in the past, and she continues to do so. She is regarded as an excellent negotiator and often offers advice to others, such as Gayle King, when they are in the middle of their negotiations.

She negotiated a raise not for herself but for her team of all-female producers, which took a lot of courage. The producers were shocked at her request, but she stood her ground and said she would stand down unless her team got a raise. She was successful in the end.

148. Viola Davis

Project: How To Get Away with Murder

Proposed Salary: Same as white female co-stars

Outcome: Paid $250,000*

Viola Davis is known as the Black Meryl Streep. But she isn’t paid as much as her. Hollywood puts her in the same category as Julianne Moore and Sigourney Weaver as well, but she isn’t treated the same in terms of salary.

Her wonderful talent has garnered her a huge fan following, a lot of respect, and recognition at multiple awards shows, such as the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. But, Davis revealed that she is paid one-tenth of what her white female co-stars earn. This statement comes after her stint as the leading lady in How to Get Away with Murder.

149. Barkhad Abdi

Project: Captain Phillips

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: He did the film

Barkhad Abdi was born in Somalia and is a powerhouse of talent, earning an Oscar nomination for the 2013 pirate thriller Captain Phillips. You might remember him from the famous line, ‘I’m the captain now.’

He was paid a meager $65,000 for his work in the film, while his male co-star, Tom Hanks, earned $50 million. The film was a huge hit at the box office and earned $250 million. The pay disparity reeks of racism and bigotry. During this time, he did not even have an agent to negotiate his salary.

150. Octavia Spencer

Project: Unnamed Project with Jessica Chastain

Proposed Salary: 5x what she asked for

Outcome: She got it

Octavia Spencer is a powerhouse who has won several awards, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a British Academy Film Award. She is one of the two black women to have been nominated for three Oscar awards. Surely, her market value must be high, right? Wrong.

Spencer had to get help to renegotiate her contract for a comedy with Universal in 2018 with Jessica Chastain. Chastain has been vocal about the gender pay gap in Hollywood and acknowledges that actors of color are paid even less, with actresses of color on the lowest rung. She helped Spencer get paid five times her asking amount in a movie that is yet unreleased.

151. The Cast Of Mean Girls

Project: Mean Girls Musical Reboot

Proposed Salary: A “disrespectful amount”

Outcome: TBD

Fans of the original 2004 classic Mean Girls were thrilled to hear that the main cast members, including Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried, were returning for a Paramount+ adaptation of the Broadway version of the movie.

But, according to Page Six, this reunion has hit a snag, as producers offered the four starlets a “disrespectful” amount of money. According to the sources, the negotiations have “stalled” until producers are willing to cough up more cash.

152. Carrie Bickmore

Project: I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!

Proposed Salary: $1 million*

Outcome: TBD

We haven’t seen Carrie Bickman, the Channel 10 star of The Project, on screen since she departed that show in October of 2022. But, now, we may see her return, though only for the right price. According to The Daily Mail, Bickman is angling for a massive payday to compete on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!

There have been three months of hush-hush negotiations, with Bickman asking $1 million. TV executives and Bickman are at a standstill, though the latter does have the support of the show’s host, Dr. Chris Brown.

153. Zendaya

Project: Euphoria (Third Season)

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*

Outcome: She got her salary

Actress Zendaya has wowed us in Euphoria, and reports state that Zendaya hasn’t been afraid to ask for fair compensation from HBO—and the network is in agreement as to what she deserves.

Zendaya led a big re-negotiation of her Euphoria contract before the third season, and now, she will be making close to $1 million an episode. This puts her in-line with celebrities like Kevin Costner and John Krasinski, both of whom have also made $1 million an episode in their respective shows.

154. Cole and Dylan Sprouse

Project: The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

Proposed Salary: $20,000 each*

Outcome: Disney agreed

Though Selena Gomez made $30,000 an episode for her role in The Wizards of Waverly Place, Cole and Dylan Sprouse, together, out-earned her on their hit Disney show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

The twin actors, who are now all grown up, asked for $20,000 an episode each for every episode of the 2000s kids’ comedy. Disney agreed, and, as a result, the pair made a total of $3.5 million together during Suite Life’s three-season run.

155. Bryce Dallas Howard

Project: Jurassic Park

Proposed Salary: $10 million per movie*

Outcome: She got it

When Bryce Dallas Howard signed on to do the Jurassic Park movies, Chris Pratt, her co-star, was dismayed to learn that she was making less than $8 million a movie, while he was making $10 million.

Concerned about the pay gap, Pratt took it upon himself to re-negotiate her contract for her. He pushed for her to earn the same amount as him, saying, “I’m gonna do all the negotiating.” The Guardians of the Galaxy star’s ploy worked, and now Howard says she “love[s] him so much for doing that.”

156. Cher

Project: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Proposed Salary: $1 million*

Outcome: She got it

Cher is an icon, and having her as a presence in your movie is sure to make it a blockbuster hit. The producers of the musical Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the sequel to Mamma Mia!, recognized that, so they agreed to Cher’s high salary demand.

Even though the singer was only in the film for seven minutes, she asked for (and received) $1 million. Cher has a net worth of nearly $400 million—perhaps her ability to negotiate high salaries is the reason why.

157. Meryl Streep

Project: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Proposed Salary: $3 million*

Outcome: She got it

In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Meryl Streep’s character, unfortunately, is no longer with us, though she does appear as a memory for five minutes in the movie (sorry for the spoiler). For that short appearance, Streep’s agent reportedly asked for $3 million.

Producers agreed to that high number, likely because they knew her presence would draw more people to the theater for the sequel. Streep didn’t return to the sequel because, according to CBR, she “liked the idea” of leaving the franchise “ to the younger ones” to carry.

158. Robert Downey Jr.

Project: Spider-Man: Homecoming

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: He got it

Alas, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man is no longer part of the M.C.U. His tear-jerking final scenes in Avengers: Endgame sealed that deal, and, in addition to being one of the most popular characters, Downey Jr. was reportedly a tough negotiator.

He took the lead in salary negotiations for the cast, and the Hollywood veteran managed to snag himself $10 million for his appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming. His screen time was under eight minutes, meaning he earned more than $1 million a minute for his bit role.

159. Vin Diesel

Project: Guardians of the Galaxy

Proposed Salary: $54.5 million in total*

Outcome: Marvel agreed

Marvel has a lot of money. The entertainment company is not afraid to spend it on special effects and cool gadgets, and it is known to shell out a lot of cash for its actors’ salaries, assuming they play their cards right in negotiations.

Vin Diesel voices Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, repeating variations of the same line, “I am Groot” in different voices. For this seemingly-small task, he has asked for and made around $54.5 million in compensation.

160. Cameron Diaz

Project: Shrek 2

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: She got it

Voice acting can be a very lucrative gig. Cameron Diaz voiced Princess Fiona in Shrek 2, and, though her character had a major role, Diaz said that her voice acting only took her two five-hour days.

For just ten hours of work, she made $1 million an hour, ending up with a salary of $10 million. The success of Shrek likely led producers to be amenable to her salary request, and the animated movie had a budget of $150 million. It made nearly $1 billion at the box office.

161. Neve Campbell

Project: Scream 6

Proposed Salary: $5-$8 million*

Outcome: She left the franchise

Never Campbell has a net worth of $10 million, and the actress is famous for her role in the Scream franchise. She made $1.5 million for Scream, $3.5 million for Scream 2, and $4 million for Scream 3.

She had a starring role in the first five slasher films, and fans were saddened when they learned she was not going to appear in Scream 6. She told People Magazine that she refused to return because she felt “undervalued,” alleging that, were she a man, she would have been paid “much more.”

162. Harry Styles

Project: The Eternals

Proposed Salary: $380,000*

Outcome: Marvel agreed

Harry Styles is one of the most famous people in the world. The singer and actor has a net worth in the hundreds of millions, and he added on $380,000 after Marvel agreed to pay him that sum for an after-credits scene in the movie Eternals.

The scene was only a minute long, meaning that Styles made thousands per second, just by appearing. The 2021 action movie wasn’t a slam-dunk for Marvel, as it made $402.1 million at the box office, making it the M.C.U.’s second-lowest-grossing film.

163. Mark Hamill

Project: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Proposed Salary: $1-$3 million*

Outcome: He got it

Mark Hamill has been an indispensable part of the Star Wars franchise for years. As one of the most successful actors of all time, Hamill knows his value, even when he isn’t saying a word. Though he has no lines in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, he still made a bundle from his silent, last-minute appearance.

Reportedly, producers agreed to pay him $1 to $3 million for his part in the film. Just having his face in the movie’s promotions was sure to bring people to the box office, making this extra cost justifiable.

164. Leonardo DiCaprio

Project: American Psycho

Proposed Salary: $21 million*

Outcome: He turned the film down

Leonardo DiCaprio turned down a massive, $21 million payday for the thriller American Psycho. Though it’s hard to picture anyone except Christian Bale as the sociopathic, unintentionally-funny Patrick Bateman, the A-list actor was once a shoe-in for the role.

It’s unclear whether DiCaprio turned down the role for salary reasons—after all, $21 million is a huge amount. Another theory says that DiCaprio refused the role because of backlash to the gruesome part.

165. John DiMaggio

Project: Futurama

Proposed Salary: Undisclosed

Outcome: His raise was denied

In March of 2022, John DiMaggio and Hulu announced that DiMaggio would return as Bender for the Futurama revival. This announcement followed a long dispute, during which DiMaggio initially refused to return because he thought the cast wasn’t being paid enough.

Though DiMaggio eventually agreed to come back, the voice actor didn’t get his raise. He said that, though he “didn’t get more money,” he got “a lot of respect” for attempting to help his Futurama colleagues in the negotiation.

166. Kristin Cavallari

Project: Laguna Beach

Proposed Salary: Undisclosed

Outcome: She got it

Laguna Beach was a beloved reality show starring Kristin Cavallari and Lauren Conrad. According to Cavallari, the designer only made $2,500 an episode for the show’s first season. In a July 2022 episode, Cavallari said that she and Lauren Conrad teamed up to renegotiate for the second season.

The pair knew it was going to be their “last season,” and they thought, since they were “out of [t]here,” they had the power to renegotiate. That gamble proved corrected, and the two made far more than their initial salary for season two.

167. Jeremy Hartwell

Project: Love Is Blind

Proposed Salary: Undisclosed

Outcome: Lawsuit ongoing

In July of 2022, Love Is Blind contestant Jeremy Hartwell, who appeared on season two of the hit Netflix reality series, sued the network over what he called unfair wages. Apparently, Netflix pays contestants $1,000 a week ($8,000 max per season) to film.

But, Hartwell alleged that, based on how many hours a week the cast worked, this pay ended up being unfair and less than the mandated minimum wage in California. Currently, the lawsuit is still ongoing.

168. Alec Guinness

Project: Star Wars: A New Hope

Proposed Salary: 2.25% of backend gross*

Outcome: He got it

Actor Alec Guinness is one of the most famous stars from the Star Wars franchise, which has grossed billions at the box office over the past five decades. Guinness managed to make $95 million for his twenty-minute part in Star Wars: A New Hope.

That was because the veteran actor did some smart negotiating. He asked for 2.25% of the backend gross from the film. The producers agreed, and, when A New Hope grossed $775.8 million at the box office, Guinness made a bundle.

169. Julia Roberts

Project: Mother’s Day

Proposed Salary: $3 million*

Outcome: She got it

Veteran actress Julia Roberts has long been known to be a tough negotiator, often asking for a backend deal in addition to an upfront salary. However, with Mother’s Day, the rom-com queen didn’t go for the backend deal.

Instead, she got $3 million upfront. When you consider that her role only required her to film for four days (leading to a total salary of $750,000 per day), this $3 million amount sounds pretty reasonable.

 

170. John Cena

Project: Trainwreck

Proposed Salary: $2.5 million*

Outcome: He got it

Starring Amy Schumer, Trainwreck won a Critics’ Choice Award, along with many other accolades. It was released in 2015, and, though Schumer wrote the screenplay, Judd Apatow directed. Made on a $35 million budget, Trainwreck grossed over $140 million at the box office.

$2.5 million of that $35 million budget went to John Cena. The professional wrestler was only in three scenes of the film (and almost all of the movie’s preceding trailers), but he was able to negotiate nearly $1 million per scene.

171. Arden Cho

Project: Teen Wolf Revival

Proposed Salary: Undisclosed

Outcome: Cho refused the film

Actress Arden Cho played Kira Yukimura in the hit MTV series Teen Wolf in 2011. She first appeared on the show in its third season, with her half-Korean, half-Japanese heritage taking a central role in the show’s plot. Cho became a Teen Wolf regular in the fourth and fifth season.

Despite her success on the show, Cho revealed that, when producers made offers to the original cast to make a Teen Wolf revival, she was offered less than half the salary of her co-stars. Understandably insulted, Arden refused the part.

172. Brian Cox

Project: Game of Thrones

Proposed Salary: Undisclosed

Outcome: Cox turned down the show

Scottish actor Brian Cox wrote a memoir, titled Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, which was released in 2022. In that memoir, he revealed that he had a shot at being on the uber-successful show Game of Thrones.

He turned down the hit HBO fantasy series because “the money was not…great.” The role he would have played was Robert Baratheon. It’s not the first time he’s turned down a major fantasy role—he also refused to play Mad Eye Moody in the Harry Potter franchise.

173. Jennifer Lawrence

Project: Dark Phoenix

Proposed Salary: $4.7 million*

Outcome: She got it

Jennifer Lawrence is one of the biggest A-list actresses out there, and she can command a very high salary, even if she’s only appearing in a movie for a few minutes. Such was the case with Dark Phoenix.

Lawrence made $4.7 million for her role in the film, even though she only appeared at the very beginning. Reportedly, she made even more money than Sophie Turner, the actual star of the 2019 X-Men spinoff.

174. Anne Hathaway

Project: Les Miserables

Proposed Salary: $10 million*

Outcome: She got it

Anne Hathaway won an Oscar for Les Miserables, even though she was only in the gritty period drama for fifteen minutes. Not only did she win acting’s most vaunted award, she also nabbed a salary of $10 million.

The film, which was released in 2012 and starred Hathaway as Fantine, made $442.3 million at the box office and cleaned up at awards ceremonies in 2013. Other A-list members of the ensemble cast included Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, and Eddie Redmayne.

175. Jason Weaver

Project: The Lion King

Proposed Salary: $2 Million*

Outcome: He got a share of royalties instead

Jason Weaver is famously known for the singing voice of the beloved character Simba. The singer was offered a flat $2 million to record his two blockbuster songs, Hakuna Matata and I Just Can’t Wait to Be King, and relinquish all future royalties.

However, Jason’s mom stepped in at the time and negotiated a much better deal with Disney which included a portion of royalties. Needless to say, Jason has gone on to earn more than just $2 million since then.

176. Sienna Miller

Project: 21 Bridges

Proposed Salary: Unknown
Outcome: Chadwick Boseman gave part of his salary to Sienna Miller

In 2019, the talented Sienna Miller was cast in the crime thriller 21 Bridges alongside the late Chadwick Boseman. According to reports, Miller initially accepted the role of Detective Frankie Burns for a significantly lower salary than her male co-star.

Talking to Empire magazine, Sienna revealed that the studio would not agree to the specific number she requested. However, Chadwick stepped in and donated part of his salary to make sure Miller got her desired number. The actress described the gesture as “the most astounding thing that I’ve experienced.”

177. Kaley Cuoco

Project: The Big Bang Theory

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*
Outcome: She got it

Over its 12-year running period, The Big Bang Theory reigned supreme and was one of the biggest shows on television. So, it is no surprise that the show’s cast members became one of the most highly paid and recognized people in the entertainment industry.

In 2015, the core cast of Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar, and Simon Helberg joined forces to negotiate equal salaries and began earning $1 million per episode. The show’s cast gave everyone an important lesson in cooperation over competition while setting an important example for equal pay.

178. Milo Ventimiglia

Project: This Is Us

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: He got it

When the show started, Milo Ventimiglia, who played Jackson Pearson, initially signed on for $85,000 per episode. This gradually increased to $115,000 the following year.

By season three, the cast of This Is Us came together and agreed to a salary of $250,000 per episode. This meant that each actor and actress had the potential to earn $4.5 million per season, given that they appeared in all 18 episodes. This also serves as a great example of how actors can come together to fight against pay disparity.

179. Steve Carell

Project: The Office

Proposed Salary: An offer was never made

Outcome: Steve Carell left The Office

Steve Carell leaving The Office was not something that people expected. Initially, many thought it was the actor’s decision not to continue with the show. However, Andy Greene’s new book, “The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s,” revealed that the actor never got an offer.

Numerous crew members told Greene how Steve Carell’s exit was a battle between the NBC executives and the actor and how he was eventually forced off the series. The show didn’t have the same zing to it after Carell’s departure.

180. Noah Schnapp

Project: The Stranger Things

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: He got it

It’s fair to say Stranger Things took everyone by storm and was widely acclaimed as a runaway success. While actors mostly have long-term deals in place, it has become something of a tradition to renegotiate salaries after two seasons based on ratings and public feedback.

Noah Schnapp, who is one of the lead actors in the show, saw his earnings go from $30,000 per episode to $250,000 after successful negotiations. This puts his earnings at just under $7 million for the last two seasons.

181. Justin Hartley

Project: This Is Us

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: She got it

The cast of This Is Us is shown as a close-knit family in the show, and it appears that the same effect might be flowing out off-screen. This togetherness especially came in handy during the pay negotiations before the sixth and final season. And given the show’s success, it comes as no surprise that the actors’ requests were accepted.

However, not everything went according to plan, as sources claim the request was initially not entertained by 20th Television and NBC. Finally, the studios relented after the cast members joined forces and asked for equal pay, with the show’s creator, Dan Fogelman, also stepping in.

182. Tobey Maguire

Project: Spider-Man 2

Proposed Salary: $30 million*

Outcome: Denied, Tobey Maguire agreed to a significant cut

Jake Gyllenhaal almost replaced Toby Maguire after the latter faked a back injury to get a significantly higher salary. The actor’s publicist released a statement stating that Tobey had done two physically demanding films and had “sustained injuries” and thus would fail to show up for filming.

Sony called out the bluff, reportedly fired Tobey, and approached Gyllenhaal, after which the actor’s agents had to contact the studio to clear the air. In the end, Tobey Maguire reportedly made $17 million from Spider-Man 2, which was regarded as one of the best superhero films.

183. Marlon Brando

Project: The Godfather II

Proposed Salary: Unknown

Outcome: Denied

Marlon Brando became the first actor to break the $1 million threshold for his Mutiny on the Bounty role. He was paid $1.25 million, which would be equivalent to approximately $9 million today. He also won an Oscar for the much-coveted blockbuster, The Godfather.

The director and co-writer of both parts, Francis Ford Coppola, tried to get the actor back into the franchise. According to The Daily Mail, Coppola sent a letter to the actor in 1973, pleading with him to consider the role. Subsequently, according to IndieWire, Brando was all set to film his cameo but was a no-show on the day of the shoot because he was busy in a financial dispute with Paramount Pictures.

184. Johnny Galecki

Project: The Big Bang Theory

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*

Outcome: He got it

Following the outrageous success of The Big Bang Theory, the main cast joined heads to negotiate for bigger and equal pay. This move was no surprise, considering the show is regarded as one of the best comedy hits ever.

This achievement put the actors in the same stratosphere as Friends, although we’d rather not comment on which we think is funnier. Not only that, but the core actors also decided to take a significant pay cut to increase overall pay for Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik, who were earning between $175,000 to $200,000 per episode previously.

185. Paris Hilton

Project: The Other Guys

Proposed Salary: Live lobsters, Grey Goose vodka

Outcome: Her part was cut from the film

Not many people were as famous as the “That’s Hot” girl Paris Hilton in the 2000s. While she was at the peak of her fame and fortune in 2009, Paris managed to secure a minor role in The Other Guys, starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell.

Directed by Adam Mckay, the part in the film amounted to, more or less, a cameo. However, Paris demanded a list of things for herself, including live lobsters and some A-grade Grey Goose Vodka. Needless to say, she didn’t make it to the film’s final cut.

186. Mayim Bialik

Project: The Big Bang Theory

Proposed Salary: $450,000 per episode*

Outcome: She got it

While we know that the five original stars of the show got together to sort out their pay disparities and eventually agreed to take an equal cut, not many people know about the “latecomers” of the show, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch.

Having joined in season 3, Bialik earned significantly less ($200,000 per episode) than her co-stars ($1 million per episode). To sort out this disparity, the original cast came together once again and agreed to take a small cut of $100,000 to free up $500,000 for the newcomers. And they say chivalry is dead.

187. Mandy Moore

Project: This Is Us

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*
Outcome: She got it

Having started as a singer in the early 2000s with her famous bubble gum tunes, Mandy Moore has come a long way. The Emmy-nominated star is best known for her role in the hit drama series This Is Us.

Sticking to the recent formula of banding together to demand a pay raise, the cast of This Is Us sorted out salary disputes by agreeing to negotiate their salaries together just before the show’s third season. This resulted in the main cast getting a significant bump in their salaries, with all of them earning $250,000 per episode.

188. Robin Wright

Project: House of Cards

Proposed Salary: $420,000 per episode*

Outcome: She got it

House of Cards took over and captivated a global audience once it aired. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright were praised equally for their acting performances. However, Robin Wright discovered that she was being paid significantly less than her co-star and demanded equal pay.

According to the actress, she looked at her character’s popularity and realized that for a while, it was even more popular than her male counterparts’. That is when she decided to capitalize on the situation and ask for fair compensation, which she got.

189. Caleb Mclaughlin

Project: Stranger Things

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: He got it

The world got obsessed with Stranger Things as soon as it aired, and rightly so. The drama, mystery, and suspense gripped audiences worldwide. Given its massive success, it was only fair that the cast was rightly compensated.

That is why, before the start of season 3, the four main boys, including Caleb Mclaughlin, all got significant salary bumps. Initially, the child stars were making around $20,000 per episode. This was increased to $250,000 per episode.

190. Chris Sullivan

Project: This Is Us

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: He got it

NBC’s renowned show This Is Us got much recognition for its captivating storyline and thrilling performances. The cast also appears to have a strong bond, both on-screen and off-screen. Initially, all the actors make between $40,000 and $115,000 before the end of season 2.

However, before the start of season 3, they all got together and demanded equal pay, given the response to the show and their individual and collective performances. Though this demand was met with initial resistance from 20th Television and NBC, they eventually accepted, with each actor taking home $250,000 per episode.

191. Melissa Rauch

Project: The Big Bang Theory

Proposed Salary: $425,000 per episode *
Outcome: She got it

When they first arrived, Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik made $175,000 per episode, while their co-stars brought in $1 million. Given how Rauch and Bialik joined later than the ‘founding stars’ of the show, it was clear that they wouldn’t make as much as them, but still, this difference was too much.

However, in a tremendous show of unity, the main cast came together (as they did when they negotiated equal salaries for themselves) and agreed to take pay cuts of $100,000 per episode so that their co-stars could earn more. Melissa and Mayim closed the deal at $425,000 per episode.

192. Julie Bowen

Project: The Modern Family

Proposed Salary: $200,000 per episode*

Outcome: She got a little less

Modern Family is famously regarded as one of history’s best sitcoms and cringe comedies. However, with its vast cast and the experience most actors brought to the table, salaries would always be a bit off. That is why the cast decided to hold some negotiations after its fourth season.

Julie Bowen and her co-stars were initially making $65,000 per episode (except for American Television star Ed O’Neill). Negotiations proved fruitful, though, with the cast getting paid $175,000 per episode – a substantial raise but still less than the $200,000 demanded.

193. Julianna Margulies

Project: The Good Fight

Proposed Salary: $180,000 per episode*

Outcome: Denied, she walked away

Julianna Margulies portrayed the titular character of the hit television show The Good Wife. So when CBS approached her to star in a role for three episodes of The Good Fight, the spinoff series to her original show, she was more than excited. However, the actress later disclosed that CBS did not want to pay her.

She did not even request to be paid an enormous amount but asked for what she got paid in her original role for The Good Wife (around $180,000 per episode). CBS considered her a “guest” actress on the show, while Margulies did not.

194. Ed Harris

Project: Westworld

Proposed Salary: $250,000 per episode*

Outcome: He got it

Ed Harris, who starred as the famous Man in Black in the mind-bending series Westworld, was originally earning $175,000 per episode, along with Anthony Hopkins. The rest of the cast earned $100,000 to $150,000 per episode until season 2.

However, negotiations for salaries before the start of season 3 proved quite fruitful, not only for Ed Harris but the rest of the cast as well. With Anthony Hopkins’ character not on screen anymore and the show’s rising success, all four main characters got their salaries raised to an equal $250,000 per episode.

195. Simon Helberg

Project: The Big Bang Theory

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*

Outcome: He got it

Simon Helberg started with a modest salary on The Big Bang Theory, earning $45,000 per episode in his first season. However, with the rise in the show’s popularity and increased screen time for Simon’s character, there was a steady rise in his paycheck. However, the best was yet to come.

Before the start of season 8, all the main actors got together and demanded equal pay from CBS since they all felt that their collective contribution to the series’ success was far greater than their individual contribution. Ultimately, negotiations were successful, with Simon Helberg earning $1 million per episode.

196. Sofia Vergara

Project: The Modern Family

Proposed Salary: $200,000 per episode*
Outcome: She got a little less

Modern Family cast appeared to be in a major family feud in real life, leading to heated arguments, salary negotiations, a lawsuit, and a table reading getting canceled (and then subsequently rescheduled). However, given the show’s enormous success, Sofia and her co-stars appeared to be in the right.

Though Sofia and all the adult actors (except for Ed O’Neill) demanded a bump to $200,000 per episode from their original salaries of $65,000, this was not achieved. However, they did manage to get $175,000 per episode and a cut from the show’s back-end profits.

197. Winona Ryder

Project: Stranger Things

Proposed Salary: $350,000 per episode*

Outcome: She got it

Stranger Things star Winona Ryder played a crucial role in the exhilarating series that took the world by storm. And even though many believe that the core cast of kids are essential to the story, Netflix seems to have realized the worth of its adult actors as well.

Initially, Winona was making around $100,000. But given her importance in the show, the story’s development, and the series’s success, negotiations were held before shooting began for season 3. As a result, Winona’s pay increased to $350,000 per episode.

198. Susan Kelechi Watson

Project: This Is Us
Proposed Salary: $250,000*

Outcome: She got it

Susan Kelechi Watson, who portrayed Beth Pearson in the hit NBC drama, played an integral part in the show’s rise and popularity. And given the success of This Is Us, it is no surprise that the cast asked for renewals on their salaries and held negotiations before season 3.

However, what did come as a surprise to many was how the cast decided to stick together and ask for equal pay. Of course, this huge demand for an increase was met with opposition from NBC and 20th Television, but they eventually agreed. All the stars made $250,000 per episode from season 3 onward.

199. Kunal Nayyar

Project: The Big Bang Theory

Proposed Salary: $1 million per episode*

Outcome: He got it

Even though Kunal Nayyar’s character “Raj” started as a supporting character in The Big Bang Theory, he quickly became part of the show’s main cast. Much like his co-star Simon Helberg, Nayyar started with a base salary of $45,000 per episode, which seemed fair at the time.

However, given the development of the story and the characters, the actor felt like he was equally a part of what made the show what it was. Hence, Kunal and four of the other main cast members decided to negotiate their salaries together. They were successful and earned $1 million per episode for the last three seasons.

200. Kevin Costner

Project: Yellowstone

Proposed Salary: $500,000 per episode*

Outcome: TBC

Kevin Costner, the lead star of the popular TV series Yellowstone, reportedly receives an impressive salary of around $500,000 per episode for his portrayal of John Dutton. With such a substantial amount at stake, it’s not unreasonable to speculate that the show’s creators and financial backers might consider the high costs of keeping Costner on board.

Moreover, as the series progresses, budget constraints or financial decisions could potentially lead to a reevaluation of cast salaries. Although there is currently no concrete evidence to suggest Costner’s exit from the show, his significant salary may become a point of discussion or potential concern for the show’s financial future.