Shockingly low film salaries revealed: Hilary Swank, Jamie Lee Curtis

Many A-List actors and actresses have been honest about various films where the pay did not match the role.

Hilary Swank starred in the 1999 film Boys don’t cryand received his first Academy Award for the performance. While Swank was applauded by her peers, she only received a salary of $3,000.

Meanwhile, when Jamie Lee Curtis was cast in the original Halloween film at the age of 19 in 1978, she received only $8,000. In addition to the money she received from acting, she was also tasked with staying on a $200 budget for her character’s wardrobe.

Keep scrolling to see which other stars have received shockingly low salaries in some big name movies:

Sean William Scott

While Sean William Scott had his breakout role in American Pie as Steve Stifler, his initial paycheck doesn’t match what the now cult classic is worth. Scott earned $8,000 for the entire film, which ended up grossing $235 million at the box office.

“I think so, yeah, because I remember afterwards I bought a used Thunderbird for about $5,000 or maybe $6,000, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, baby,'” Scott said of what he did with his earnings during an appearance in March 2022 at The Rich Eisen Show. “I don’t know what happened to the other $2,000 because I ended up having to work at the LA Zoo as a churro guy, so maybe it was even less than $8,000.”

Ryan Reynolds

Before you make Deadpool A household name, Reynolds admitted his paycheck wasn’t all it seemed while filming the first superhero movie.

“No part of me thought when Deadpool finally got the green light that this would be a success,” the actor said in a July 2024 interview with New York Times. “I even gave up getting paid to make the film just to get it back on screen. They wouldn’t allow my cowriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took what little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room.

Christopher Lee

Lee starred in the 1973 film, The Wicker Manand chose not to take a salary so the film could be made.

“I didn’t get paid anything. I keep repeating to people and they don’t believe it’s true,” he said in the 2001 documentary The Wicker Man Enigmaper The independent. “If they paid me my normal fee – and everyone else their normal fees – they wouldn’t have been able to make the film.”

Hilary Swank

“So when I did Boys don’t cryi was 24 years old. I made $3,000. To have health insurance, you must earn $5,000. So I didn’t even know I didn’t have health insurance until I went and tried to get a prescription filled,” Swank recalled during an October 2016 appearance on Chelsea Handler‘s Netflix self-titled talk show. “They said, ‘It’s $160.’ I said, ‘Um, did you try my insurance?’ They said, ‘Mmm-hmm.’ I had an Oscar, no health insurance.”

Ethan Hawke

Hawke shared in a June 2013 interview with Weekly entertainment while working on it The cleansing he didn’t have a big salary and even “slept on the producer’s couch” during the whole shoot. The actor admitted that he believed in the horror premise and wanted to be a part of it no matter the cost.

“I have never really prioritized making money that way. I decided months ago that I loved The cleansing and I felt it was a cool movie,” he said. “I would love it [even] if it bombed. I have had so few movies ever make money in my 20 year career. I’ve learned not to worry about it.”

Jeff Daniels

While Daniels starred Dumber and dumber beside Jim Carreythe Newsroom alum allegedly had a significantly lower salary. Daniels earned $50,000, while Carrey reportedly received $7 million. The writer-director duo Bobby and Peter Farrelly recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in November 2014, how the studio didn’t want to cast Daniels in the role due to his lack of comedic background, despite the Farrelly brothers wanting him in the role.

“The studio didn’t want him. They said, ‘Please everybody but him. Get a comic actor,'” Bobby said. “So they offered him, if I recall, 50,000, which was, you know, Jim gets seven million, they offered him 50, figuring he’d say, ‘No, I’m not taking that,’ but he took it.”

Jamie Lee Curtis

“I was making $8,000. I was making $2,000 a week, which was a fortune at the time,” Curtis shared People magazine in October 2018 of her original Halloween salary, adding that the crew was small and young. “20 people, maybe 15. The oldest person was 30. Every other person was under 30. It was magic. Someone’s friend cooked the food every day and we all ate on the floor.”

In addition to the acting, Curtis was also given a $200 budget for her character’s clothes, which she wore at JCPenney.

Nick Castle

Like Curtis, Castle – who played the infamous Michael Meyer – didn’t have a big paycheck on Halloween, but he found the experience on stage much richer.

“I was paid $25 a day for Halloween. That was a lot back then!” he remembered Vanity Fair in October 2018. “You have to remember: my interest in making the film was on the set so that I could demystify the experience of filmmaking and directing. I expected to hang around the set for no money. But hey, $25 a day and all I had to do was wear a rubber mask.”

Taraji P. Henson

While working on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button beside Brad Pitt and Cate BlanchettHenson was initially offered $100,000 for her role despite asking for $500,000. After some negotiations, Henson received $150,000 for the role, earning her an Academy Award nomination.

“I want to make it very clear – I’m not saying Brad or Cate shouldn’t have gotten what they got. They’re putting donkeys in seats, so give them their money. They deserve it. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get what they get,” Henson reflected in an April 2019 interview with Black. “I just asked for half a million—that’s all. That’s it. When I did Benjamin Button, I wasn’t worth a million yet. My audience was still getting to know me. We thought we were asking, what was fair to me at the time.”

Rebel Wilson

Before Pitch Perfect, Wilson appeared in Bridesmaids. In her memoirs, Rebel RisingWilson revealed that she earned $3500 for her scenes with brooms Kristen Wiig and Matt Lucas. The amount was the minimum required for her to become a member of the SAG-AFTRA union, which was enough for Wilson.

Terrence Howard

Howard claimed that in addition to receiving a small salary for his starring role in the 2005 film Hustle & Flow he also received no royalties for his song.

“I made $12,000 for doing it Hustle & Flow,” the actor said in a November 2023 interview with WREG News Channel 3. “What Paramount did, instead of putting my name as Terrence Howard performing the songs, they put ‘performed by DJay.’ Well, they owned DJay, so guess what? The performance fees went to Paramount,” he claimed.

Jennifer Lopez

Lopez revealed that she chose not to take a salary for her performance in Hustlers. But she produced the crime comedy.

“I didn’t get paid a lot of money for it Hustlers” she said in a November 2019 interview with GQ. “I did it for free and produced it. Just like Jenny From the Block — I’m doing what I love.”

Adam Levine

The Maroon 5 frontman made his acting debut in the 2013 rom-com Begin again and ultimately decided to do it for free.

“I made this movie for no money. I’m very lucky to be in that position,” Levine said in an interview with USA today in June 2014. “I want to have good experiences. I don’t want to do a lot of things that I hate. I will treat [acting] completely different because I have the very lucky luxury of not having to think about this in terms of money.”

George Clooney

Clooney was paid $1 each to write, direct and star Good night and good luckand earn a total of $3. The actor later said that his desire to make the film was inspired by his father’s work ethic as a journalist.

“I say so [to my father]”Thank you for setting the bar so high, for believing so strongly in the responsibility of information” and taking it to the level where it cost him many things over the years, Clooney reflected to LA Times in September 2005. “There were jobs he left because he wasn’t willing to compromise.”