"No one got paid"— Cate Blanchett opens up about how little she made working on the Lord of the Rings

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen which aired on August 8, Cate Blanchett revealed "no one got paid" for doing the movie, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

Blanchett, while playing the game "Plead the Fifth," was asked to name the movie she received the biggest paycheck for. When Cohen suggested saying, "I think it's probably 'Lord of the Rings', Cate said,

"Are you kidding me. No. No one got paid anything to do that movie."

As per CNN, the first film made almost $900 million worldwide. When Andy responded and asked if she "got a piece of the backend" referring to the percentage of the ticket sales, Blanchett said,

"That was way before any of that. No, nothing."

Cate Blanchett played the role of Galadriel, a royal elf with magical abilities in the movie. She also played the role in the subsequent Lord of the Rings movies— 2003's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and 2004's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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"I basically got free sandwiches"— Cate Blanchett on her Lord of the Rings paycheck

While discussing her paycheck for playing Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Cate mentioned she signed up for the film to get a chance to work with Peter Jackson, the director of the trilogy,

"I wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead. I mean I basically got free sandwiches and I got to keep my ears."

Blanchett also addressed pay parity in the industry and said, "Women don’t get paid as much as you think they do." While there is no further clarity on the paycheck Cate Blanchett got for the trilogy, Orlando Bloom, who played the role of Legolas in the trilogy. also mentioned he received a comparatively lower paycheck than other movies.

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show in 2019, Orlando Bloom said he only got paid $175,000 for the trilogy. However, Orlando didn't mind and said,

“It was the greatest gift of my life. I’d do it again for half the money."

After appearing in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Cate Blanchett went on to do other movies such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Thor: Ragnarok, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and more.

Her most recent project includes Borderlands, which was released on August 9, 2024. The actor plays the role of Lilith, one of the four protagonists in the movie.