25 Actors Who Took Roles Just For Money

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford has never been shy about his relationship with Han Solo: it’s strictly business. When asked if he got emotional suiting up again for The Force Awakens, Ford cut off any romantic nostalgia with three words: “No, I got paid.” For the actor, reprising the role wasn’t about reliving the glory days or making fans weep with joy. It was about the massive paycheck Disney threw his way.

Will Smith

Before he was a blockbuster megastar, Will Smith was in serious financial trouble. After blowing through his early rap money and ignoring taxes, the IRS came knocking and repossessed much of his flashy lifestyle. That's when he went to Quincy Jones’s party, where Smith basically auditioned in a living room and walked out with a contract to star in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He didn’t even have a lawyer, Quincy had to lend him one.

Daniel Craig

When Spectre wrapped, Daniel Craig was exhausted by James Bond. He famously said he’d “rather slash [his] wrists” than do another one; unless, of course, the money was right. And sure enough, the money was right. Contracted for one more film, Craig returned for No Time to Die six years later, admitting that at that point, the role was about the paycheck, not the passion.

Rachel Zegler

Sometimes honesty really is the best policy, and Rachel Zegler didn’t sugarcoat a thing when asked why she joined the DC sequel. At the film’s premiere, she flat-out admitted she took the part of Anthea because she “needed a job.” With West Side Story still unreleased and the pandemic grinding Hollywood to a halt, the rising star struggled to find work despite her Golden Globe-worthy talent. So when Shazam! came calling, she grabbed the chance.

Sean Penn

Sean Penn, known for his serious dramatic chops, took a surprising detour in the early ’90s when he joined Carlito’s Way. The reason was refreshingly unpretentious; he needed money. With a kid to raise, bills to pay, and a demanding writing project draining his time, Penn answered director Brian De Palma’s late-night call and said yes. The role wasn’t about passion for crime dramas or career strategy, it was a straight-up financial decision. Still, working alongside Al Pacino sweetened the deal!

Tim Roth

Tim Roth’s résumé is stacked with iconic performances, but even he admits there’s one role he regrets — FIFA president Sepp Blatter in United Passions. Roth called the film “awful” and said he hated every second of making it. So why did he do it? He had two kids in college and needed the money. For him, it wasn’t about the sport, the script, or even his career, it was about being a dad.

Halle Berry

Oscar or not, bills still come due. After her Monster’s Ball win, Halle Berry expected the roles to roll in but Hollywood had other ideas. As a Black woman in the industry, she found herself still saying yes to projects she didn’t love, simply because acting was how she kept food on the table for her kids. Berry has openly admitted that not every script thrilled her, but she couldn’t treat her career like a hobby.

Stephen Dillane

While fans obsessed over every brutal twist in Game of Thrones, Stephen Dillane, who played the cold and calculating Stannis Baratheon, admitted he wasn’t into it at all. He found the show “too brutal” to watch and revealed he didn’t connect with the material. So the reason he stuck around was simple, money. Dillane confessed that the paycheck was the main thing he got out of the gig.

Paul Bettany

For Paul Bettany, voicing Tony Stark’s AI butler Jarvis was the ultimate low-effort cash grab. He once joked that he felt like a thief: walking into a booth, reading a few lines for two hours, then leaving with “a bag of money.” Bettany hadn’t even bothered watching the Iron Man films he was in, admitting that fanboys would gush over Jarvis while he had no clue what they were talking about.

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman’s soothing voice has anchored some of cinema’s greatest dramas, but when he signed up for London Has Fallen, it wasn’t about art. It was about the paycheck. Freeman openly joked by singing the lyrics to “For the Love of Money” when asked why he took the role. He admitted these big, noisy action flicks weren’t really his thing but they paid very, very well.

Michael Caine

Sir Michael Caine has one of the most quotable takes on doing a film for money. Asked if he’d ever seen Jaws: The Revenge, he quipped: “No. But I’ve seen the house it bought for my mum.” The 1987 shark sequel is widely mocked as one of cinema’s worst, but Caine never pretended he took it for the art. To him, it was about providing for his family, and if that meant tangling with a rubber shark in a dud sequel, so be it.

Amanda Seyfried

Buying Manhattan real estate isn’t cheap, and Amanda Seyfried knew exactly what she was doing when she signed up for Letters to Juliet. The actress later admitted she took on the sugary rom-com simply because she wanted to snag an apartment in New York. Sure, she enjoyed the genre as a viewer, but making them, not so much. And while critics weren’t exactly blown away, the film gave her the financial boost she needed to secure her dream home.

Alec Guinness

Alec Guinness, one of Britain’s greatest actors, saw Star Wars as “fairy-tale rubbish.” In letters to friends, he admitted he regretted taking the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi; except for the money. Guinness negotiated not just a salary, but a percentage of the royalties, which ended up making him millions. While fans revered him as the wise Jedi Master, Guinness privately complained the dialogue was “lamentable” and the job uninspiring.

Richard Dreyfuss

Richard Dreyfuss had already conquered the ocean with Jaws, but when he came out of retirement to star in Poseidon, it was for the money. He admitted he retired “one number short of winning the Spanish lottery,” so when the offer came, he grabbed it. The disaster remake sank at the box office, but for Dreyfuss, it was never about legacy. It was about padding his bank account. Sometimes, even an Oscar winner will brave bad CGI waves if the paycheck looks good enough.

Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons is known for Shakespeare, prestige dramas, and Oscar-winning performances. But in 2000, he signed on as the villain Profion in the notorious bomb Dungeons & Dragons. Because, he had just bought a castle and needed to pay for it. Irons later admitted it with a laugh, saying sometimes you just take the role for the mortgage. The film may have been critically panned, but Irons’ over-the-top performance at least added a dash of camp to an otherwise disastrous movie.

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan may have become a household name thanks to Rush Hour, but don’t mistake it for one of his personal favorites. The Hong Kong action star admitted he only agreed to do the buddy-cop flick for the paycheck. To him, the film lacked a real purpose or message, it was just “give me the money and I’m fine.” Ironically, Rush Hour went on to be one of his biggest international hits!

Glenn Close

Even legends need a blockbuster payday. Glenn Close, queen of prestige drama, shocked fans when she showed up as Nova Prime in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Because, he admitted the paycheck let her keep chasing her real passion: smaller, artsy films. For Close, the Marvel role wasn’t about suiting up for superhero glory, but about balance play a cosmic space leader on Monday, fund an indie gem on Friday. A classic case of “one for them, one for me!

Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy was already comedy royalty in the early ’80s, but when Paramount dangled a million-dollar offer for just two weeks of work, the then-22-year-old couldn’t resist. He signed on to play Lieutenant T.M. Landry in Best Defense, a movie he originally turned down, but eventually cashed in on. Murphy later admitted there was no artistic draw, just a giant check.

Christopher Plummer

It might shock fans, but Christopher Plummer spent years calling The Sound of Music “The Sound of Mucus.” While audiences adored him as Captain von Trapp, Plummer admitted he only took the role for the paycheck and the chance to work in Europe. He found the film overly sentimental and often said it wasn’t his kind of project at all. Still, he stuck it out, delivered one of his most famous performances, and cashed the check.

Ben Affleck

Sometimes the irony writes itself. When Conan O’Brien asked Ben Affleck why he starred in John Woo’s sci-fi flop Paycheck, Affleck deadpanned, “The answer lies in the title.” At the time, Affleck’s career was in a rough patch with a string of duds like Gigli and Daredevil. The movie bombed, and Affleck even snagged a Razzie for Worst Actor, but at least his bank account stayed intact while he waited for better projects to come along.

Bella Thorne

Disney stardom was Bella Thorne’s financial lifeline. She confessed she didn’t even want to audition for Shake It Up! but with her family teetering on homelessness, she had no choice. They were living off coupons, scraping by, and that Disney paycheck meant survival. So Bella took the role that launched her career. It was the only way to keep a roof over her family’s head!

Laurence Olivier

By the early ’80s, Sir Laurence Olivier was British acting royalty, but his health was fading. When offered $250,000 in cash to star in the war epic Inchon, he took it without hesitation. Olivier famously said, “The answer is simple: Money, dear boy.” He knew the film wasn’t great, but he wanted to leave behind financial security for his family. In fact, he even demanded a suitcase of cash flown in by helicopter before coming out of his tent on set.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may have been a beast on the court, but when it came to Hollywood, his motivations were a little more… domestic. According to director Jerry Zucker, Kareem was offered $30,000 to play co-pilot Roger Murdock in the comedy classic Airplane! But his agent pushed for $35,000 because Kareem wanted to buy a fancy oriental rug. And he did! Weeks later, a magazine featured him proudly standing in front of his pricey new carpet.