Orlando Bloom only earned $175,000 for his role as Legolas in The Lord Of The Rings franchise – despite the films raking in $2.9 billion worldwide.
The 42-year-old first played the blonde-haired elf in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, and later appeared in the final parts of the movie trilogy, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003).
And despite the films going down in Hollywood history as some of the most popular of all time, Orlando only earned a pittance for the gig – but the poor pay wouldn’t stop him taking on the role again.
“Nothing, I got nothing. 175 grand… Listen, greatest gift of my life. Are you kidding me? I’d do it again for half the money,” Orlando said during an interview on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show Howard 100.
“I think there was a little bump when the movies came out… It was like a little bump, but it was nice.”
Despite not earning much for the films, they set Orlando up for bigger roles – such as playing Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. And it was that part, particularly in the second and third films, that saw the actor enjoying a big payday.
“I was in a good spot. They negotiated pretty well for me to buy a couple of houses, it was that kind of money,” Orlando smiled.
