Cate Blanchett Reveals Surprising Lord of the Rings Salary

While Cate Blanchett is an Oscar winner, her salary for the Lord of the Rings movies wasn’t as high as one might expect.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Blanchett was asked about her biggest paycheck. To host Andy Cohen’s surprise, it wasn’t from Lord of the Rings.

“Are you kidding me?” Blanchett said when Cohen guessed Lord of the Rings. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.”

Cohen then asked if she earned anything from the film’s substantial backend earnings, given that all three installments grossed at least $868 million worldwide. However, Blanchett clarified that this series happened before actors started getting backend deals, as seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Blanchett shared that she wanted to work with filmmaker Peter Jackson, the director of the cult horror film Braindead. “I basically got free sandwiches. And I got to keep my ears,” she joked.

In reflecting on the broader issue, she mentioned, “Women don’t get paid as much as you think they do.”

Despite not earning much from Lord of the Rings, Blanchett has had an illustrious career. She has won two Oscars, four Golden Globes, and numerous other accolades.

Blanchett’s breakthrough came in 1998 when she played Queen Elizabeth I in the biopic Elizabeth. Following this, she starred in The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Gift, and Bandits.

In 2001, she took on the role of Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a character also featured in J.R.R. Tolkien’s other works like The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

A few years later, Blanchett starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator. That same year, she appeared in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

After portraying a version of Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There, Blanchett starred in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Her notable works during this period also include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo.

In 2012, Blanchett returned to Middle-Earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and later appeared in its sequels, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies.

Throughout the 2010s, Blanchett continued to deliver stellar performances in films like Blue Jasmine, The Monuments Men, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Cinderella, Carol, Thor: Ragnarok, Ocean’s 8, and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.

More recently, Blanchett has starred in high-profile projects such as Don’t Look Up, Nightmare Alley, Tár, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The School for Good and Evil, and Borderlands.

Borderlands is a movie adaptation of the popular video game series. It features a star-studded ensemble cast including Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Édgar Ramirez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Directed by Eli Roth, known for horror films like Cabin Fever, Hostel, and Thanksgiving, Borderlands faced some directorial changes during its reshoots. When Roth was busy with another project, Tim Miller (Deadpool) stepped in for reshoots.

The world premiere of Borderlands took place on August 6, 2024, followed by its release in theaters on August 9.

Source: ClutchPoints