Acting is no doubt one of the most lucrative jobs out there in the world. Some of the A-list actors and actresses can earn anywhere from $5-10 million per movie. The highest-paid film actors in the world today could earn anywhere between $20 and $40 million per movie in salaries. Today, it is even common to give the actors a cut of the profits made from the film. In big-budget movies helmed by top Hollywood actors, the paycheck easily runs in millions of dollars. Although not all actors make millions, the median salary for actors is estimated to be around $60,000.
With such hefty paychecks, it’s no surprise that if an actor loses out on a role for any reason, they may regret the decision later on, especially if the movie does well. As nowadays most actors’ paychecks are dependent on the movie’s profits, and many actors who refused to act in a particular film now look back on their decisions with sorrow. It has happened multiple times in Hollywood that an actor missed out on a movie and thereafter lost millions. Let’s look at some of the biggest losses that actors have seen.
Actors Who Lost Out On Millions In Hollywood
In Peter Jackson’s historic ‘The Lord of the Rings‘ trilogy, Sean Connery was promised at least $30 million. In addition to that he was also offered 15% of the box office gross profit to play Gandalf. He declined the part because he didn’t like the book or the screenplay and said he just didn’t understand the allure of the books. He would have earned more than $500 million if he had accepted the post. But the actor admits that he had no regrets.
Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the most loved actors in Hollywood, also lost out on almost 20 million dollars as he refused the lead part in the movie ‘American Psycho‘. The role went on to Christian Bale and the movie was very successful. It was believed that DiCaprio was interested but couldn’t commit to the part due to scheduling conflicts.
Christian Bale also lost out on approximately 50 million dollars as he refused to return as Batman. After his role ended in the ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, he did not want to reprise his role again. He was reportedly offered 50 million to reprise his role in the DC extended universe. It is rumored that he thought that his role was over and he didn’t want to continue forward.
Angelina Jolie also lost out on $70 million after refusing the part in the movie ‘Gravity’ which was later played by Sandra Bullock. She opted out of the movie because of scheduling conflicts and had to leave the Hollywood movie even though she liked the script.
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Matt Damon Lost The Most Money
Even though the other actors mentioned earlier lost millions of dollars after refusing a role in a movie, no one’s loss eclipses that of actor Matt Damon. Damon was asked to play the lead role in the ‘Avatar’ franchise and was even offered a 10% cut of the profits made by the movies.
Damon walked out of one of the biggest Hollywood franchises as he was already shooting for another one, the Bourne franchise. It is estimated that he lost more than $278 million by opting out of the movie. He also said that he couldn’t take on another significant part in the master class at the Cannes Film Festival. As a result, he decided against leaving the ‘Jason Bourne‘ series on a “moral” basis.
Damon also recollected the experience during the Cannes master class and admits that he regrets his decision. He candidly said, “I was offered a little movie called Avatar, James Cameron offered me 10% of it. I will go down in history… you will never meet an actor who turned down more money.” The amount of money that Damon lost out on seems unbelievable and yet no one could have predicted beforehand which role becomes successful or not.
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