13 Actors Who Didn’t Get Paid A Penny For Their Roles In Hit Movies

An actor’s paycheck is the money received for a not-so-easy job that requires both physical and mental effort, and few are willing to give it up voluntarily. However, sometimes this happens. For example, Mark Wahlberg didn’t charge a penny for his work on The Fighter, and Bruce Willis and Johnny Depp donated some of their fees to charity.

We, from awesome.clubwe looked at financial issues in the film industry and would like to tell our readers about some celebrities whose film roles didn’t make them any money.

The romantic comedy A Rainy Day in New York received mostly positive reviews, and its cast is simply brilliant. The film features actors Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Jude Law, Rebecca Hall and singer Selena Gomez. By the way, Rebecca and Timothée turned down their fees and donated that money to charity.

IMDb Rating — 6.5

Ranveer Singh is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is among the highest paid Indian actors and, since 2012, his name has been on the list of the 100 most famous people in India, according to Forbes magazine. In Finding Fanny, Ranveer made a cameo and acted for free. In addition, it was his idea to introduce the character he ended up playing into the plot.

IMDb Rating — 5.7

In the production Deadpool 2, Brad Pitt played for a cup of coffee, but the actor’s condition was as follows: he would appear on the screen if this coffee was served to him by Ryan Reynolds himself. As Reynolds later admitted, such a request was the best way to let everyone know that Pitt was willing to work for free.

IMDb Rating — 7.7

The drama O Vencedor is inspired by real events and tells the story of two boxing brothers. The film was nominated for an Oscar and won in two categories. It was acclaimed by the public and, on the website Rotten Tomatoes, received an incredible rating of 91%.

The lead role was played by Mark Wahlberg who refused any fee for his work. In addition, the actor himself paid for the services of a nutritionist and a personal trainer, because he needed to both gain weight and quickly acquire good physical shape, already during filming. In an interview, the actor confessed to having acted in many films that he feels ashamed of, but The Fighter is the project that Mark really wanted to appear in, and he was delighted with the job.

IMDb Rating — 7.8

Alain Delon is a world-renowned star. Last year, the actor turned 86, and lately, he doesn’t act as often. However, in 2012, Delon appeared in the comedy Happy New Year, Mommies!, and didn’t charge a penny for his work.

IMDb Rating — 6.3

In the memory of fans, the feature film The Imaginary World of Dr. Parnassus was overshadowed by tragedy as Heath Ledger died during filming. As the actor was embodying the protagonist, the fate of the film did not seem very clear.

The director decided to proceed with filming and invited several Hollywood celebrities to participate in the project at once: Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. These three not only acted in the film but refused their fees: the money was transferred to Heath Ledger’s daughter.

IMDb Rating — 6.8

Grande Hotel is a 90’s acid comedy. The film’s cast is enviable and includes, for example, Tim Roth, Antonio Banderas, Valeria Golino, Madonna and Bruce Willis. Like the last production we mentioned, a very curious story is also related: Bruce expressed the desire to act for free, and that’s what he did. However, his name was not included in the credits due to the violation of one of the rules of the Screen Actors Guild, of which the actor was a member. The rule required that all film roles must be paid for.

IMDb Rating — 6.8

Priyanka Chopra is one of the highest paid and most popular celebrities in India. She is a real Bollywood star and the winner of the Miss World 2000 beauty pageant. In 2009, the actress starred in the movie Billu and did it for free, just like Kareena Kapoor. Both actresses refused the fees and returned the checks that had been sent to them, stating that they did not want to charge for the work.

IMDb Rating — 6.3

There is a very popular story among fans that reveals the secret of Bruce Willis’ free appearance on the hit series Friends. It is said that when Bruce starred in the comedy My Neighbor Mafia alongside the star of the sitcom Matthew Perry, Bruce lost a bet to him. But in fact, the actor received the money for participating in the three episodes of the production and donated everything he earned to charity.

The curious thing is that the salary of the actors in the 6th season of Friends, in which Willis appeared, was 125,000 dollars per episode. This means that, for example, Jennifer Aniston in three episodes became $375,000 richer, while Bruce Willis received $0.

IMDb Rating — 8.9

In your opinion, when actors act for free, do they do it from the heart or for other reasons? Tell us in the comments!