"I Had An Academy Award, No Health Insurance" – 12 Actors Who Were Paid Relatively Small Amounts For Their Iconic Roles

"I remember one time sitting in the make-up trailer and the make-up artists were laughing at me because I was getting paid less than any of them."

Pay for Hollywood actors and writers is a major issue right now. While stars can command a giant fee once they've established a certain level of fame, the pay for some of their earlier roles sheds light on how difficult the industry can be for anyone.

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Here are 12 famous actors who received relatively low payouts for their early roles...

1. Harrison Ford – Star Wars: A New Hope

20th Century Fox

Harrison's role as Han Solo is one of THE most iconic movie characters of all time, literally. Harrison, who'd famously been doubling as a carpenter as he attempted to navigate his way into the industry, was still a carpenter when he was about to become an international star. Of course, future film roles would turn Harrison into an incredibly wealthy man, but for Star Wars: A New Hope, he was reportedly only paid $10,000. 

Obviously, that's still a big payday, and the role led to Harrison's emergence as one of the most famous actors of all time. However, for such an iconic role and compared to other fees, it does seem somewhat small. 

Have a look at one of his scenes here:

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2. Hilary Swank – Boys Don't Cry

Searchlight Pictures

This part brought Hilary critical acclaim as well as an Academy Award for Best Actress. However, despite the role raising her esteem in the industry, it didn't get her any sort of significant payday. She was paid a total of $3,000 for the part, amounting to around $75 a day.

Speaking about the paycheck, Hilary remembered trying to put a prescription on her health insurance after being paid for the movie: 

"I made $3,000. In order to have health insurance, you have to make $5,000. So I didn't even know that I didn't have health insurance until I went and tried to get a prescription filled. They said, 'That's $160.' I went, 'Um, did you try my insurance?'  They said, 'Mmm-hmm.' I had an Academy Award, no health insurance."

It's important to note that Hilary has since addressed the criticism of a cis actor playing a trans person: "We now have a bunch of trans actors who would obviously be a lot more right for the role and have the opportunity to actually audition for the role."

Have a look here:

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3. Sean William Scott – American Pie

Universal Pictures

Sean is a true example of how hard the industry can be. Prior to landing his iconic role in American Pie, he was working at a churro stall in the zoo, and was even mugged for all the $1.35 he had on the way to an unsuccessful Baywatch audition. 

However, landing one of the main roles in what would turn out to be an era-defining comedy was only enough to supplement the churro-takings, as he was paid just $8,000 for his part. Obviously, that's a lot of money for someone without much to their name, but the fact studios can make huge sums of money from their movies, and an actor's work is so sporadic, does put that figure into a different perspective.

Take a look here:

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4. Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Sony Pictures Releasing

Barkhad's acting career got underway with Captain Phillips. Before that, he was a limousine driver, and even after production had wrapped, he headed back to Minneapolis to work in his brother's mobile phone shop. With an Academy Award nomination, it's safe to say this his role as the lead pirate opposite Tom Hanks was life-changing, but the payment wasn't as monumental as you might think. 

The first-time actor received $65,000 for his role, which is barely meeting the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) minimum for a feature film. It especially seems like a small fee considering the $55m budget and the $218m box office revenue.

Watch one of his iconic scenes here:

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5. Christian Bale – American Psycho

Lionsgate

Regarding Christian's iconic role as Patrick Bateman, the actor recalled an eye-opening story: "I remember one time sitting in the make-up trailer and the make-up artists were laughing at me because I was getting paid less than any of them." 

At the time, Christian was sharing a house with his sister and father, and it was getting repossessed, so he was in dire need of a bit of money. The role in American Psycho no doubt would've helped, but he revealed that they only offered him the lowest salary they could: "They had paid me the absolute minimum they were legally allowed to pay me." This was mainly down to the fact that Christian was dying to do the film, but the studio wasn't keen on his casting.

Despite all this, the film was, of course, incredibly well received, and Christian's work went on to become some of his most memorable ever. 

Have a look at him in action:

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6. Dustin Hoffman – The Graduate

United Artists

Dustin's role as Benjamin in The Graduate launched his career, but it didn't stop him from having to collect unemployment cheques for a while after production was over. This is because, despite the movie's box-office takings of over $100m (in 1967!), Dustin received a mere $4,000 after tax and living expenses.

With that not being enough to keep him going, he was back on unemployment for a short while, until his stardom grew – largely down to the fame from The Graduate!

Watch him here:

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7. Nick Castle – Halloween

Compass International Pictures

Who do you think of when you think of the Halloween films? It's Michael Myers, of course! Well, someone had to be the actor behind the mask, and it was Nick Castle who had the job of embodying the masked murderer back in the late '70s. 

While it wasn't Nick's "breakout" role (he was a filmmaker in his own right) it certainly has become an iconic performance, and one that was brought to life by Nick's unique mannerisms. Well, for the role, Nick was paid just $25 a day. While he was just wearing a mask for most of the time, and he didn't seem to mind the fee at all, the fact that the film would gross $70m makes his salary seem rather tiny.

Look at him in action here:

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8. Jamie Lee Curtis – Halloween

Compass International Pictures

Sticking with Halloween, the small budget clearly didn't allow for many of the cast to take home a payday that reflected its box office profits. Jamie made $8,000 for her part as Laurie Strode, which she said at the time felt like a fortune. However, compared to the healthy profits at the box office, the sum seems somewhat less than fair.

TBF, I don't think Jamie minds about the lack of any subsequent payment from the original Halloween, because she believes that she owes her whole career to it. And clearly, she went on to earn far bigger sums in the sequels and other films.

Watch her in action here:

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9. Jeff Daniels – Dumb and Dumber

New Line Cinema

I'm sure many would argue that Jeff's ludicrous performance was equal to Jim Carrey's in this ridiculous film, but their paychecks were incredibly disparate. Obviously Jim was the bigger star, and Jeff was pretty new to comedy, but to Jim's $7m payment, Jeff only received $50,000.

The studio, who didn't want Jeff, offered him $50,000 because they thought/hoped he'd reject it. He took it anyway, and the movie went on to make $257m at the worldwide box office.

Watch him here:

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10. Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Universal Pictures

Filmed intermittently over 12 years, appearing in Boyhood was a big commitment for the actors. They knew it would take up a lot of time for over a decade, and the pay didn't necessarily equate to that effort. Patricia, talking about how much she earned for the role that won her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, said: 

"I paid more money to my babysitter and my dog walker than I made on 'Boyhood,' and to be in 'Boyhood!'"

While we don't know the exact figure, it clearly didn't even cover the costs of getting child and pet support during filming!

Have a look here:

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11. Brad Pitt – Thelma & Louise

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Despite having relatively little screen time, you could argue that it was Brad Pitt's appearance in Thelma & Louise that really brought the future star into the public eye. However, for the small role in this huge film, Brad was paid just $6,000 – a relatively small amount considering the budget and box office takings of the movie. 

While it clearly worked out for Brad, who, like many others on this list, would go on to make multimillions for his movies, for every appearance of an emerging star there are far more who will never make those unbelievable sums. 

Have a look at him here:

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12. Oprah Winfrey – The Colour Purple

Warner Bros.

Oprah is, of course, now one of THE household names. However, when she appeared in Stephen Spielberg's The Colour Purple in the mid-'80s, she just hadn't been on TV and radio a lot.

For her role as Sofia, Oprah earned $35,000. When considering the $15m budget, the $100m box office sales, and the multiple Academy Award nominations, $35K was a relatively low amount for such a prominent role. Of course, Oprah went on to become one of the most famous and wealthy TV personalities of all time, so I'm sure she's not bitter about it now.

Have a look at her here:

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What other actors received relatively small sums for their parts? Let us know in the comments below!