10 Actors Who Were Paid Almost Nothing For Great Roles

5. Brad Pitt - $6,000 (Thelma & Louise)

brad pitt Thelma & Louise
MGM

1991's Thelma & Louise was directed by Ridley Scott, released by MGM and had a budget of over $16 million, but Mr. Brad Pitt didn't get a whole lot for his scene-stealing turn as easy-going thief J.D. Quite the opposite, in fact.

While it was one of his first major film roles and he wasn't a leading character, you would've expected him to take home more than $6,000, but that's exactly what he ended up getting. This unimpressive payday was definitely worth it though, because his work in Thelma & Louise led to roles in movies like Se7en, True Romance and Interview With The Vampire, making Pitt one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history.

Interestingly, the part of J.D. almost went to Robert Downey Jr, who was already a well-known actor at the time (shortly after Thelma & Louise, he won a BAFTA for his role in Chaplin). Would his salary have been more than $6,000? Almost certainly.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!