Hollywood’s equal pay problem is no secret. Women and actors of color are often paid significantly less than their male or white counterparts, even when they appear on screen for the same amount of time.
Democratic National Convention / Via giphy.com
Salary parity isn’t the only money issue that the film industry faces. Though it’s a far less important issue than equal pay, budget cuts impact the kind of movies that get to be made. Some actors are in the privileged position where, if they still want to be involved with the project, they can accept a massive reduction in salary.
Here are 14 times actors agreed to take significant pay cuts:
1.
When the studio refused to pay Sienna Miller’s asking price for 21 Bridges, Chadwick Boseman donated some of his own salary to her in order to reach her request.
Matt Kennedy / © STXfilms / courtesy Everett Collection
Miller told Empire, “He said that that was what I deserved to be paid.”
2.
After WarnerMedia decided to release King Richard on streaming services and in theaters simultaneously, Will Smith helped cover the rest of the cast’s lost theatrical returns by paying them bonuses out of his own pocket.
Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
3.
After the budget for On the Road was dramatically cut, Kristen Stewart agreed to a reduced salary of $200,000 — just 1% of her Breaking Dawn salary.
Ifc Films / ©IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
She agreed to it because she was so invested in her character.
“There is something scary and unpredictable and animalistic about Marylou,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.
4.
After no studios wanted to greenlight Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney decided to finance it himself by mortgaging his house and paying himself a $1 salary for writing, directing, and acting in the film.
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
The film was “ultimately a love letter to [his] old man,” who was a TV news anchor.
He told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s me saying, ‘Thanks for setting the bar that high, for believing so strongly in the responsibility of information,’ and taking it to the level where it cost him a lot of things over the years. There were jobs he left because he wasn’t willing to compromise.”
5.
Emma Stone didn’t name any names, but she revealed that in the past she’s “needed [her] male costars to take a pay cut so that [she] may have parity with them.”
Emma Mcintyre / WireImage / Via Getty
She told Out, “And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair. That’s something that’s also not discussed, necessarily — that our getting equal pay is going to require people to selflessly say, ‘That’s what’s fair.'”
6.
Jonah Hill agreed to be in The Wolf of Wall Street for only $60,000 — “the lowest amount of money possible” — because he wanted the opportunity to work with director Martin Scorsese.
Paramount / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
He told The Howard Stern Show, “I would sell my house and give him all my money to work for him…I would have done anything in the world. I would do it again in a second. This isn’t about money. You should do things that you care about.”
7.
Keanu Reeves reportedly volunteered to take a pay cut of several million dollars so the studio could afford to hire Al Pacino for The Devil’s Advocate.
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
8.
Amitabh Bachchan didn’t accept any payment for the Bollywood film Black because he dreamed of working with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and “just being a part of such an enterprise was sufficient…”
9.
Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd all reportedly took pay cuts so Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues could be made.
Paramount / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
10.
Kate Winslet and Ewan McGregor agreed to cut their salaries from seven figures to just above the union minimum rate so they could star in East of Harlem together — but they never made it to production.
Dave Benett / Getty Images
They were replaced by Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine, and the movie was renamed In America.
11.
Christopher Lee played Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man for free, and he also financed his own promotional tour before the film’s release.
British Lion FilmsCourtesy Everett Collection
The movie was one of his favorites of his entire career.
12.
For Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, Jack Black agreed to reduce his asking price from $12 million to only $1 million, which he split with costar and longtime friend Kyle Gass.
New Line Cinema / ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
However, as part of the agreement, they would also share 10% of the gross revenues if the movie performed well enough to cover the costs of production and marketing.
13.
Ryan Reynolds personally paid for Deadpool screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to be on set every day during production after Fox refused to.
20thcentfox / 20th Century Fox Licensing/Merchandising / Everett Collection
14.
And finally, when The Big Bang Theory was up for renewal for its two final seasons, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar reportedly took pay cuts of $100,000 per episode each in support of Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch’s negotiations for equal pay with the rest of the cast.
Cbs / ©CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
Parsons, Galecki, and Cuoco had already been making $1 million per episode, and Helberg and Nayyar had just joined them.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristenharris1/actors-major-pay-cuts