The Lord of the Rings trilogy made billions at the box office, but actor Sean Astin has admitted that his salary was so ”small” he had to sell his house.
A former child star who rose to fame at 13 as the star of The Goonies, Astin is best known to audiences for his role as the loyal Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson’s epic film series.
In a new interview, the actor, who starred in the three Lord of the Rings films between 2001 and 2003, told The Guardian that while starring in the franchise gave him a “level of visibility and access” he was unprepared for, the financials left much to be desired.
“There was a disconnect between the attention that I was getting and how much money we had,” the 55-year-old said. “It was not a lot of money! In fact, I had to sell my house because I negotiated such a small amount on the trilogy.”
Back in 2017, actor and trade union leader Astin revealed in an interview that he was paid $250,000 (£190,000) to appear in the trilogy, adding that he got “no residuals” either.
Directed by Peter Jackson, the Lord of the Rings films were blockbusters. Made on a budget of around $281m (£214m), they brought in $2.9bn (£2.2bn) worldwide.
That this was not reflected in the cast’s salaries has been touched on by members of the ensemble in interviews over the years.
Appearing on Watch What Happens Live, Cate Blanchett, who played Galadriel in the JRR Tolkien adaptation, said that ”no one got paid anything to do that movie”, before jokingly adding: ”I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my ears as pay.”
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Elijah Wood, who played Astin’s on-screen best friend (and the franchise’s lead) Frodo Baggins, also opened up about the pay issue last April.
Wood explained that production company New Line Cinema had taken “a real gamble” on the massive ensemble cast, leading to an “understandable” trade-off where the cast were on “not massive salaries” as a result.
The actors also shot the films back to back, Wood explained, and “because we weren’t making one movie and then renegotiating a contract for the next, it wasn’t the sort of lucrative scenario that you could sort of rest easy for the rest of your life,” he revealed.
The actor disagreed with rumours that he was paid $250,000 (£190,000) to star in the first instalment, The Fellowship of the Ring, saying that it “doesn’t matter” what the real number was.
“The benefit of that was that we were also signing up for something that was going to be a part of our lives forever,” he said.
Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, said in 2017 that he received $175,000 (£133,000) for all three films.
“Nothing, nothing, nothing. I got nothing. 175 grand for three movies,” he said, going on to clarify: “No, listen, greatest gift of my life, are you kidding me? Would do it again for half the money.”
