1.
Hugh Grant recently called playing an Oompa Loompa in the upcoming Wonka “very uncomfortable,” as he had to work with a lot of different cameras and apparatuses to appear in miniature “I made a big fuss about it,” he said. “I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.” He said he wasn’t sure what to do with his body, and “never received a satisfactory answer” about whether or not he should “act with [his] body.”
He continued, “Frankly, what I did with my body was terrible, and it’s all been replaced with an animator,” saying all the dancing was created through animation. In reply to whether it was all worth it, he said “not really” and later joked, “I slightly hate [making films] but I have lots of children and need money.”
2.
On the red carpet for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Rachel Zegler was asked what made her “step into this world of DC heroes.” She replied, “I needed a job. I’m being so serious.” She continued, “The reality is we’re in the middle of a pandemic and I was not working and I couldn’t get a job for the life of me, because West Side Story hadn’t come out yet. It was really hard to book work for me.”
However, Rachel also went on to gush about being cast after loving the first movie, and called herself “lucky” for getting the job. “I made some of my best friends on this job. I just absolutely adore this movie, too, so I’m excited.”
3.
David Cross has said he only did Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked because he was contractually obligated to appear in all three Alvin and the Chipmunks films. He called filming for the third installment, “literally, without question, the most unpleasant experience I’ve ever had in my professional life.”
4.
Channing Tatum similarly said he was contractually forced to do GI Joe. He told Howard Stern, “I fucking hate that movie. I hate that movie. I was pushed into doing that movie. From Coach Carter, they signed me to a three-picture deal … As a young [actor], you’re like, ‘Oh my god, that sounds amazing, I’m doing that!’” He continued. “Time goes by and you get other jobs and you’re building your quote and you have a dream job you want to do. And … the studio calls up and they’re like, ‘Hey, we got a movie for you, we’re going to send it to you.’ And they send it to you, and it’s GI Joe..” Tatum said the script was bad, but he wasn’t able to get out of it — “No option: ‘You’re doing this or we’re gonna sue you.’”
5.
Stephen Dillan, who played Stannis on Game of Thrones, said the primary thing he got out of his time on the series was “money,” and that it wasn’t really a role he was interested in. He also said he had difficulty understanding some of the storylines, saying he was dependent on Liam Cunningham (who played Davos) to tell him what scenes were about: “I didn’t know what I was doing until we’d finished filming and it was too late. The damage had been done. I thought no one would believe in me and I was rather disheartened by the end.”
6.
Daniel Craig felt extremely burnt out from playing James Bond after filming Spectre. “I genuinely felt like I couldn’t do that anymore. I felt like, What was the point?” In fact, after filming Spectre, Craig famously said he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another Bond movie, noting that if he did, “it would only be for the money.” He ended up doing a final installment, No Time to Die.
7.
After starring on Glee, Amber Riley posted a TikTok that seemed to reference her feelings about the show, lip-synching to the words “Yes, I did that. And you would do it too for a check. I was an employee. And I was gonna get employee of the month. And that’s on periodt.”
8.
Jackie Chan said there was “no reason” to make Rush Hour, unlike his other films, where he had “something to say.” He also said he disliked the film, but, “You just give me the money and I’m fine.”
9.
Michael Caine famously said of the critically panned Jaws 4: The Revenge, “I have never seen the film, but by all accounts it was terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.”
10.
Laurence Olivier also famously said, in reference to appearing in Inchon, “People ask me why I’m playing in this picture,” the actor stated about the 1981 movie, “The answer is simple. Money, dear boy. I’m like vintage wine. You have to drink me quickly before I turn sour. I’m almost used up now and I can feel the end coming. That’s why I’m taking money now. I’ve got nothing to leave my family but the money I can make from films. Nothing is beneath me if it pays well”.
11.
Morgan Freeman said he starred in the sequel to London Has Fallen for money, and also implied he wanted to strengthen his relationship with Lionsgate. “These large production action films pay well. Rewards are many. You’ve got a film that everybody is going to respond to. They’re gonna go and see it, they gonna…it’s gonna make its money back. That studio, Lionsgate, so…they’ll be right back out there making another movie, and you never know when they’re gonna call you back.”
12.
Dennis Hopper said he took the role of King Koops in Super Mario Brothers so he could afford to buy things for his son, joking that his son told him it wasn’t worth it while on Conan.
13.
Billy Bob Thornton has admitted to taking multiple acting jobs for money, including On Deadly Ground: “I did it because I didn’t have any money. My wife was pregnant with my son Willy at the time and I went and did it.”
14.
He also said he did Armagedden for the money. “People say, ‘But wait a minute, you did Armageddon.’ Yeah, I did, I had to pay off my divorce. But it’s a harmless movie, it’s not like we did something bad…but it’s not what I would choose to do today. I guess the bottom line is, I’m just trying to get by.”
15.
Richard Dreyfuss said he did Red “for the money and to work with this group of folks,” adding he’s “nothing if not honest.” He did also say, however, that he “loved the opportunity to be the baddie”…though one of the reasons why was because “they usually get the most days off.”
16.
He also alluded to having done Piranha 3-D for the same reason. “I worked for two days in the middle of the desert, got my check, and then I left,” he said. “I didn’t understand 3-D in the fifties and I can’t say I get it now either. I just don’t see what the big deal is.”
17.
Tim Roth said he “hated” filming United Passions and called it “the wrong film but for the right reasons.” He continued, “I had two kids in college so I had to make a decision and it was probably poorly judged, but once you make that decision you have to follow through. It’s a hard road, being in something you don’t want to do, but I’m glad I did it for my family. “
18.
Sylvester Stallone only auditioned for the softcore porn film, The Party at Kitty and Stud’s, because he’d been evicted and was sleeping at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. He said he’d had to choose between doing the movie or robbing someone, saying he was at “the very end” of his rope. Starring in the film gave him $200 and got him out of being unhoused.
19.
Stallone also only took the role in the critically panned Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot because he thought he was taking the part from longtime rival Arnold Schwarzenegger. Stallone told the Hollywood Reporter, “I had heard Schwarzenegger was going to do that movie and I said, ‘I’m going to beat him to it.’ I think he set me up,” and Schwarzenegger has admitted the story is “100% true.”
Stallone later called it “the worst film I’ve ever made by far” and “maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we’ve never seen… a flatworm could write a better script than Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.”
20.
Brad Pitt was not a fan of the script, and in particular, the way his character was written, for Interview With the Vampire. He became especially miserable after production moved to London, where he spent six months “in the fucking dark,” which he said “broke” him. He called producer David Geffen to ask how much it would cost to get him out of the movie, and Geffen answered, “$40 million”…so Pitt decided to “ride [it] through.”
21.
Pitt was also contractually obligated to make Troy due to pulling out of another movie with the studio. He said the plot drove him wild and that he didn’t love the direction of the film: “I realized that the way the movie was being told was not how I wanted it to be.”
22.
When Keith David was asked what attracted him to The Thing, he replied, “It was a job,” also mentioning it was his first movie role. However, he did acknowledge it was a great experience, saying, “It was the coolest first movie that I could have ever thought I’d get to be in. With the exception of Kurt Russell, who grew up in the movies and TV, I was surrounded by theater actors: Richard Masur, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Peter Maloney, whom I knew from New York. Tommy Waites and I spent some time at Julliard together. It was a phenomenal first experience.”
23.
And finally, Josh Brolin didn’t specifically say he did it for the money or to fulfill a contract, but he did call playing Cable in Deadpool 2 “a business transaction.” He said, “Even though it was funny, it was harder [than playing Thanos in the Avengers films].” He continued, “It was more, ‘We need to make this like this,’ whereas I didn’t feel that way with ‘Avengers.'”
There ya have it, folks — at the end of the day, acting’s just a job. Let us know what you think are the most surprising examples in the comments!