“The Lord of the Rings” is one of the highest-grossing film series of all time, having grossed $2.9 billion worldwide. But according to Cate Blanchett, that doesn’t necessarily mean the actors were paid well for their roles in Peter Jackson’s trilogy.
During Tuesday night's “Watch What Happens Live,” host Andy Cohen asked Blanchett which movie she was paid the most for, and she replied, “I think it's 'The Lord of the Rings.'”
“Are you kidding me?” Blanchett replied. “No, no one got paid to do this movie.”
When Cohen asked her if she had “some background,” Blanchett replied, “No! That was way before anything. No, nothing.”
“I wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead,” she continued, referring to Jackson and his 1992 zombie comedy, which was released as Dead Alive in North America.
Blanchett starred in Jackson's “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy as Galadriel, a Middle-earth fairy king with powerful magical powers. The Oscar-winning actress also reprised her role in the director's “The Hobbit” film series, a prequel to “The Lord of the Rings.”
Blanchett wasn’t the only “Lord of the Rings” star to express how little she was paid for the fantasy epic. Last year, Orlando Bloom, who plays Legolas, told “The Howard Stern Show” that he was paid just $175,000 for the three films.
“I basically got free sandwiches, and I was able to keep [elf] “Ears,” Blanchett said of her Lord of the Rings salary on Watch What Happens Live.
“Women don't get paid as much as you think,” she later said.
Blanchett appeared on “Watch What Happens Live” alongside Gina Gershon to promote the sci-fi film “Borderlands,” in theaters Friday.
Based on the popular video game series of the same name, Blanchett stars as Lilith, an outlaw who returns to her home planet of Pandora after being hired by weapons manufacturer Atlas (Edgar Ramirez) to find his missing daughter. The film stars Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Jack Black and Gershon as Mad Moxie.
