Cate Blanchett reveals how much she earned for her iconic role in 'The Lord of the Rings'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film series is among the highest-grossing movies of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of $2.9 billion. However, according to Cate Blanchett, this doesn't mean the actors made a substantial salary for their roles in Peter Jackson's trilogy, according to Variety.

Last Tuesday night on ‘Watch What Happens Live,’ host Andy Cohen asked Blanchett which film she received the largest paycheck for. "I think it's probably 'Lord of the Rings,'" Cohen guessed, to which Blanchett replied, "Are you kidding me? No, no one got paid anything to do that movie."

When Cohen inquired if she "got a piece of the backend," Blanchett responded, "No! That was way before any of that. No, nothing."

She also mentioned, "I wanted to work with the guy who made 'Braindead,'" referring to Jackson's 1992 zombie comedy film, which was released as ‘Dead Alive’ in North America.

What did Cate Blanchett reveal about her salary from ‘The Lord of the Rings’?

Cate Blanchett portrayed the character Galadriel, a royal elf in Middle-Earth with powerful magical abilities, in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie trilogy.

The Oscar-winning 55-year-old Australian actor reprised her role in the director’s ‘Hobbit’ film series, which serves as a prequel to ‘The Lord of the Rings.’

“I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my [elf] ears,” Blanchett said regarding her ‘Lord of the Rings’ salary.

She later mentioned, “Women don’t get paid as much as you think they do.”

Blanchett made an appearance on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ with Gina Gershon to promote the sci-fi movie ‘Borderlands,’ which is set to hit theatres this Friday.

Based on the well-known video game series of the same name, ‘Borderlands’ features Blanchett in the role of Lilith, a fugitive who comes back to her home planet, Pandora, after being hired by Atlas, a weapons manufacturer portrayed by Édgar Ramírez, to locate his missing daughter.

The film also features Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Jack Black, and Gershon as Mad Moxxi.

Internet reacts to Cate Blanchett's revelation

People online shared their opinions and reactions to Cate Blanchett saying "no one got paid anything" to film ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film series.

One person suggested, "It's possible she didn't get paid much because she just didn't really do much. She didn't have much screentime, you blink you miss it."

Another person remarked, "Well, the main thing is...she got to keep the ears!!"

Another person said, "Cate Blanchett is a woman who you just can't ignore. A power on the screen and mysterious. Every one of 'her' characters had a fascinating draw to see how she fills in the 'space' between the script and her own special way of portraying a role. I admire her work and am often amazed at the wide variety of her skills."

One person argued, "These actors would call $400k "peanuts". This is all relative, and they are not in our same reality."

Another person quipped, "I am sure she got paid more than the average person makes in a year."

Finally, this individual commented, "I'll take $175,000, free sammis, & elf ears."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.