Multiple Oscar winners, a legendary "actor's actor," and the man who brought Obi-Wan Kenobi to life. They all treat acting like it's a higher calling — but even serious actors will take a role just for the paycheck.
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00:00Multiple Oscar winners, a legendary actor's actor, and the man who brought Obi-Wan Kenobi
00:05to life — they all treat acting like it's a higher calling, but even serious actors
00:10will take a role just for the paycheck.
00:13Jim Carrey had a remarkable run of box office success in the 1990s and early 2000s.
00:19Hey, wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?
00:27But after a later string of unremarkable roles, he began to withdraw from the public eye,
00:32announcing in 2022, after completing Sonic the Hedgehog 2, that he was seriously thinking
00:36about retirement.
00:37In 2024, however, he came back for a third go-round as Dr. Ivo Robotnik in Sonic the
00:43Hedgehog 3 and was brutally honest about his reasons for coming out of retirement.
00:48Carrey told the Associated Press,
00:49I came back to this universe because I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch.
00:53And you know, I bought a lot of stuff, and I need the money, frankly.
00:57As the star of numerous acclaimed films like The Big Chill and Albert Knobs, Glenn Close's
01:02talent speaks for itself.
01:04But in today's blockbuster-driven film industry, actors like Close, who appeared in the first
01:08Guardians of the Galaxy, are left to subsidize their art through sometimes surprising means.
01:14Prior to filming her part in the Marvel film, Close told reporters,
01:17I just did two independent films this summer, and I had an absolute ball with fantastic
01:22actors.
01:23But in August, I'm gonna go off and do the next generation of Marvel Comics, Disney.
01:26I'm doing that because it will then afford me to go do the other kind of movies that
01:31I really love.
01:33Michael Caine is one of the most acclaimed actors in modern cinema.
01:36But not every film is destined to be met with critical acclaim.
01:39And like the rest of us, Mr. Caine still needs to eat.
01:42Hence, the actor's participation in fairs such as Jaws the Revenge.
01:47According to The Telegraph, Caine missed accepting his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Hannah
01:51and Her Sisters in 1987 because he was filming the schlocky fourth entry in the Great White
01:56Shark series.
01:57The actor is unapologetic for his presence in the movie, and his famously candid quote
02:01sums things up perfectly.
02:03He told the outlet,
02:04I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible.
02:06However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.
02:11For the younger members of the cast, 1977's original Star Wars was a springboard to a
02:17film career.
02:18But for Academy Award winner Alec Guinness, who played Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, it
02:22was just another job.
02:23In his personal correspondence, he makes it clear that he only saw the part as a paycheck,
02:27writing,
02:28Can't say I'm enjoying the film.
02:30New rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day on wadges of pink paper.
02:34And none of it makes my character clear or even bearable.
02:37I just think, thankfully, of the lovely bread, which will help me keep going until next April.
02:43Since his official Western audience debut in 1995's Rumble in the Bronx, Jackie Chan
02:47has remained a consistent blip on the American cultural landscape.
02:51In the late 90s, though, Chan teamed up with Chris Tucker for the 1998 action-comedy flick
02:56Rush Hour.
02:57No, no, no, no, no.
02:58You put your own s---- in the back.
03:02I'm not a skycap.
03:04It proved an undeniable box office darling, spinning off several sequels.
03:08But years later, Chan admitted his own distaste for the goofball flick, telling Southern People
03:13I have reasons to do each film.
03:14I have something to say.
03:16Unlike Rush Hour, there was no reason in making it.
03:18You just give me the money and I'm fine.
03:20I dislike Rush Hour the most, but ironically, it sold really well in the U.S. and Europe.
03:25Morgan Freeman's talent and charisma have made him one of the biggest stars on the planet.
03:29Stand before him, sonny, and stop wasting my time.
03:34With that in mind, it's understandable if he looks out for his bottom line from time
03:38to time.
03:39So it's no wonder he's made his share of movies for the money.
03:42Take 2013's Olympus Has Fallen.
03:44During the press junket for the 2016 sequel, London Has Fallen, Freeman spoke with Digital
03:48Spy about his presence in the franchise, noting,
03:51"...these large production action films pay well.
03:54The rewards are many.
03:55You've got a film that everybody's going to respond to.
03:58They're going to go and see it.
03:59And you never know when they're going to call you back."
04:02Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's airplane role as co-pilot Roger Murdoch marked the beginning of a spotty
04:07post-NBA acting career.
04:09Roger, Roger.
04:10What's our vector, Victor?
04:12While talking airplane with the A.V. Club, co-directors David and Jerry Zucker said they
04:15offered Abdul-Jabbar a cool sum of $30,000 for the role, and the hoopster's manager got
04:20back to them with a very creative reason for a slight hike in rate.
04:25Zucker told the outlet,
04:26"...the agent asked for $35,000 because that's how much this rug cost that Kareem wanted
04:31to buy.
04:32It was an Oriental rug, an art piece, not one to walk on."
04:35A couple of weeks later, there's an article in Time with a picture of Kareem standing
04:38in front of the Oriental rug.
04:42Laurence Olivier may be an actor's actor, but he also wound up in a few turkeys along
04:45the way.
04:46As his time in the industry wound down, Olivier simply sought to keep things going, as his
04:50role in Inchon proved.
04:52The infamous film was riddled with problems, came in well over budget, and flopped hard.
04:57According to the book, The Complete Films of Laurence Olivier, the actor later quipped
05:01in an interview,
05:02"...people ask me why I'm playing in this picture.
05:04The answer is simple — money, dear boy.
05:06Nothing is beneath me if it pays well."
05:09One of the big gotcha moments in Friday the 13th is the climactic reveal that Jason isn't
05:14the murderer.
05:15Rather, it's his mother, Mrs. Voorhees.
05:17For the killer role, director Sean Cunningham recruited TV vet Betsy Palmer.
05:21Apparently, the opportunity came at the perfect time for Palmer, who told MovieWeb,
05:25"...my agent called that Friday, and he said, how would you like to do a movie?
05:28I said, wonderful, I just saw a car that I want to buy.
05:31And he says, well, there is a drawback, it's a horror film.
05:34It was only 10 days' work, so I thought, I'll do it so I can get my car."
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