Elijah Wood Says ‘Lord of the Rings’ Didn’t Pay Enough Where ‘You Could Rest Easy for the Rest of Your Life’: ‘Not Massive Salaries’ but ‘It Doesn’t Matter’
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director Elijah Wood is the latest cast member to be asked about the surprisingly low salaries the cast of “The Lord of the Rings” earned as part of Peter Jackson’s landmark trilogy, which went on to gross nearly $3 billion at the worldwide box office.
Cate Blanchett, who starred as Galadriel in the franchise, went viral last August for saying on “Watch What Happens Live” that “no one got paid anything to do that movie.” She joked: “I basically got free sandwiches and I got to keep my [elf] ears” as pay.
Speaking to Business Insider at the 2025 Texas Film Awards, Wood confirmed his “Rings” salary was not a big one, despite leading the trilogy as Frodo.
However, the actor doesn’t mind at all. “Because we weren’t making one movie and then renegotiating a contract for the next, it wasn’t the sort of lucrative scenario that you could sort of rest easy for the rest of your life,” Wood explained, referencing how Jackson and New Line Cinema shot all three “Rings” movie back-to-back.
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