Cate Blanchett says ‘no one got paid anything’ for Lord Of The Rings
By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Los Angeles Correspondent
Australian actress Cate Blanchett mentioned that she received “free sandwiches” while working on her role as the high elf Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings movies, but she didn’t get paid very well.
During an episode of the US talk show Watch What Happens Live, the two-time Oscar winner was asked which movie earned her the most money while playing a game called Plead The Fifth.
When host Andy Cohen mentioned Lord Of The Rings, a shocked Blanchett replied, “Are you serious? No, nobody got paid anything for that movie.”
When Cohen inquired if she received “a piece in the back end,” which means a share of the profits from the project, 55-year-old Blanchett replied, ‘No! That was way before any of that, no nothing.‘
“I wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead (Sir Peter Jackson). I mean, I basically got free sandwiches and I got to keep my ears, which is something, they fed me.
“No, no one got paid anything.”
While promoting her new movie Borderlands on a TV show, Blanchett mentioned, “Women aren’t paid as much as people usually believe.”
This follows the news that the actress mentioned she would be willing to reprise her role as Galadriel in the new Lord Of The Rings spin-off if given the chance, saying she would “do anything with Andy Serkis.”
In May, it was revealed that Serkis will be directing a new Lord of the Rings movie focused on his character Gollum. Sir Peter Jackson, who directed the original trilogy, will come back as a producer along with his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.
After a movie was shown at the Glastonbury Festival, Blanchett was asked if she would come back to play her character in the film, which is coming out in 2026. She said yes!
Cate Blanchett took on the role of the strong elven queen Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy, which came out from 2001 to 2003. She also returned to play the character again in the 2012 film The Hobbit, all inspired by the magical universe created by writer J.R.R. Tolkien.
