15 Paycheck Roles That Huge Hollywood Stars Did for the Money (Photos)
The term “paycheck role” is a bit of a touchy one in Hollywood. Sometimes actors, no matter how famous or critically-acclaimed, sign on to roles just to pick up a big payday. For all the swipes about their quality, the “Transformers” films make a load of cash every time, and Anthony Hopkins has just signed to be in the next film to get a piece of that pie. Not all paycheck roles have to be infamous, however. Sometimes, actors pick up some of their most famous roles just because they need the cash or have nothing better to do. Whether they ended up being iconic or infamous, the history of the paycheck role is a long one.
Hopefully Anthony Hopkins will have a better go with the “Transformers” series than Hugo Weaving did. Weaving told Collider that his performances as Megatron in the first three films were the first in his career that he considered “meaningless.” Which, not surprisingly, infuriated director Michael Bay, who blasted complaining actors in his blog.
Fresh off her Oscar win for “The Queen,” Mirren took on two maternal paycheck roles. First was the critically panned “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” in which she played a professor who was mother to Nicolas Cage and bickering ex-wife to Jon Voight. After that, she played another fussy woman in the adaptation of the YA novel “Inkheart,” taking the role of Brendan Fraser‘s aunt, Elinor.
Michael Caine has admitted that he’s not above playing terrible roles if they are the only ones available. The most infamous is his role as Hoagie in “Jaws: The Revenge.” When asked if he had seen the film, Caine said, “I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house it built, and it is terrific.”
Early in her career, Mirren had a minor role in the infamous historical erotica film “Caligula,” which starred “A Clockwork Orange” star Malcolm McDowell as the titular corrupt Roman emperor. The Penthouse-produced film was a paycheck role for everyone involved, but none more so than Peter O’Toole, who played the syphilis-riddled Tiberius.
A decade after winning an Academy Award for “Reversal of Fortune,” Jeremy Irons played the villain in the cheap and critically-reviled “Dungeons and Dragons.” When asked why he did the role, Irons told The Guardian, “I just bought a castle! I had to pay for it somehow!”
Michael Caine has admitted that he’s not above playing terrible roles if they are the only ones available. The most infamous is his role as Hoagie in “Jaws: The Revenge.” When asked if he had seen the film, Caine said, “I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house it built, and it is terrific.”
L.A. Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made his mark on comedy with his cameo in “Airplane!” In an interview with the A.V. Club, co-director Jerry Zucker said that Abdul-Jabber asked for $35,000 to be in the film specifically because it was the price of an oriental rug he wanted to buy.
For the panned crime thriller “Swordfish,” Halle Berry appeared topless for the first time ever. As compensation for doing the scene, Berry received a $500K bonus on top of the $2 million she received for doing the movie.
After achieving stardom with the words “Hasta la vista, baby” in “Terminator 2,” Arnold Schwarzenegger refused for years to to play the Terminator again unless James Cameron was in the director’s chair. Eventually, he relented and starred in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” but only after locking down a contract for $29.25 million along with 20 percent of the film’s worldwide gross receipts. Hasta la vista, studio profits.
Sigourney Weaver had intended for “Aliens” to be her final film as Ellen Ripley, but returned for a cameo appearance in “Alien 3” and a starring role in “Alien: Resurrection.” When asked why she ended up playing Ripley again in “Resurrection,” she said it was because “they basically drove a dump truck full of money to my house.”
Before he became an American treasure, Tom Hanks had to pay his dues in films like “Mazes and Monsters.” In his first lead role, Hanks played a college student who goes insane and thinks he is the character he plays in a fantasy roleplaying game that is clearly a swipe at “Dungeons and Dragons.” The film was based on a book that helped fuel the notion in the early 80s that fantasy RPGs were corrupting the youth of America.
