Cate Blanchett Reveals Surprising Pay for “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy
Despite “The Lord of the Rings” being one of the highest-grossing film series ever, raking in $2.9 billion worldwide, Cate Blanchett recently revealed that the actors didn’t earn as much as you might expect. During her appearance on “Watch What Happens Live” with Andy Cohen, the Oscar-winning actress shared some surprising insights about her earnings from the iconic trilogy.
When Cohen speculated that “The Lord of the Rings” might have been her highest-paying film, Blanchett quickly debunked the idea. “Are you kidding me?” she responded. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.” When asked if she received any share of the backend profits, Blanchett replied, “No! That was way before any of that. No, nothing.”
Blanchett, who played the powerful elf Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, explained that her motivation for joining the project wasn’t financial. “I wanted to work with the guy who made ‘Braindead,’” she said, referencing Jackson’s 1992 zombie comedy, known as “Dead Alive” in North America.
Blanchett’s experience wasn’t unique. Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, shared a similar story in a 2019 interview on “The Howard Stern Show,” revealing that he earned just $175,000 for all three movies.
Reflecting on her time working on the films, Blanchett joked, “I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my [elf] ears.” She also touched on the broader issue of gender pay disparity in Hollywood, saying, “Women don’t get paid as much as you think they do.”
Blanchett was on “Watch What Happens Live” alongside Gina Gershon to promote their new sci-fi film, “Borderlands,” which hits theaters this Friday. In the movie, based on the popular video game series, Blanchett stars as Lilith, an outlaw hired by weapons manufacturer Atlas (played by Édgar Ramírez) to find his missing daughter on the planet Pandora. The film features an ensemble cast, including Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Jack Black, and Gershon as Mad Moxxi.
