Cate Blanchett Clears the Air on ‘Lord of the Rings’ Pay Rumours

Cate Blanchett recently put to rest the rumours surrounding the pay for Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy during a lively appearance on Bravo’s ‘Watch What Happens Live.’ Participating in the show’s popular segment ‘Plead the Fifth,’ where guests must answer three challenging questions but can only dodge one, Blanchett addressed the topic head-on.

Host Andy Cohen, known for his probing questions, asked Blanchett which of her roles had brought her the most significant paycheck. Rather than answering directly, Blanchett turned the question back on Cohen, prompting him to guess. Cohen, assuming that her role in ‘Lord of the Rings’ was the most lucrative, was quickly corrected by the actress. “Are you kidding me? No, no one got paid anything to do that movie,” Blanchett responded, debunking the notion that the trilogy had been a financial windfall for its cast.

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Cohen then asked about Blanchett’s share of the film’s box office earnings. Blanchett laughed off the idea, stating, “No, that was way before any of that.” She went on to explain that her decision to join the project wasn’t motivated by money, but rather by the opportunity to work with Peter Jackson, whom she admired for his work on the 1992 zombie comedy Braindead (known as ‘Dead Alive’ in the United States).

Blanchett’s role as Galadriel, the ethereal elf with remarkable magical powers, is one of the most memorable in the trilogy. She also reprised the role in Jackson’s The Hobbit prequel series. Reflecting on her compensation for ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ Blanchett humorously remarked, “I basically got free sandwiches and I got to keep my [elf] ears.”

Blanchett isn’t the only ‘Lord of the Rings’ cast member to speak out about the modest pay for such a monumental film series. Orlando Bloom, who portrayed Legolas, mentioned in a 2019 interview on ‘The Howard Stern Show’ that he was paid only $175,000 for the entire trilogy.

Despite the trilogy’s astounding $2.9 billion global box office success, it seems that financial rewards were not the primary motivation for many of its cast members.