10 Actors Who Were Paid Shockingly Little For Famous Roles

10. Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club - $200,000

At the height of his romantic comedy career, Matthew McConaughey had enough star power to pull in those million dollar paychecks - but when he decided to, you know, take his career seriously and opted to become one of the finest actors of his generation instead, he had to make a few monetary sacrifices. Which is to say, in order to bag the kinds of roles that would allow him to actually stretch his acting abilities, McConaughey had to work for a lot less money. For his turn in Dallas Buyers Club, then, the How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days actor accepted a rate of just $200,000 dollars - not the smallest amount in the world, but noticeably low end when you remember that this was the performance that won McConaughey the Academy Award for Best Actor earlier in the year. More impressively, perhaps? Dallas Buyers Club's Makeup budget was a mere $250 dollars - the team won an Oscar for their work, too.