Low & unpaid work | Cate Blanchett says cast wasn't 'paid anything' for Lord of the Rings

Cate Blanchett recently revealed in an interview for the film adaptation of the video game Borderlands that for her appearance in Lord of the Rings “nobody got paid anything” - despite the films receiving critical acclamation and billions in revenue.

“I basically got paid in sandwiches,” Blanchett joked on a US talk show and game, Plead the Fifth, about her portrayal of the elf Galadriel.

The famous Aussie actress said the reason why she didn’t mind getting paid such a small amount was because she “wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead” referencing the work of the series’ iconic director Peter Jackson.

Although Blanchett’s salary for the films isn’t publicly available, other actors who worked on the series earned between $175,000 and $250,000 for the first films – much lower than movie salaries today. “Women don't get paid as much as you think they do,” she also went on to describe.