13 Actors Who Got Fired After Asking For A Pay Raise
In the show industry, money is a big topic. Some claim that the salaries of actors are excessive. Others are enamored with the powerful and well-known. Few people understand how all that money is divided. The financial worth of an actor depends on who is valuing them and is based on factors such as talent, audience appeal, qualifications, physical attractiveness, gender, and plain old greed. To put it another way, it's challenging.
Although agents and managers somewhat regulate the procedure, and the Screen Actors Guild is now making it less subjective than in the past, not all financial discussions in Hollywood are successful. We've all heard of the gender wage gap, and we know that many women have asked for and obtained higher pay. It's safe to suppose that many male actors have placed bets on themselves and won, but what about those actors who pushed their luck and lost?
A raise request carries some risk. This is common knowledge. Sure, you could be rejected and shamed, but you also might lose your job. While this extreme reaction might be uncommon in Hollywood, it does occur. The performers on this list lost everything in exchange for a bigger slice of the pie, which caused them to go hungry.
"I phoned my friend, who I assisted in getting the first job, but he didn't call me back for three months, he continued," Don Cheadle replaced Howard in the project due to Howard's departure.
Disney believed they could intimidate us into accepting any deal they wanted to make, but they failed, Susan told Entertainment Weekly. Therefore, Disney decided to revoke the entire sequel deal, losing Hilary the $4 million salary and bonus she would have received.
She has previously had success with this strategy. By refusing to go elsewhere, she persuaded CBS to increase her weekly wage from $10,000 to $17,500 before the second season of Rhoda. She returned to the set when they agreed to a compromise of $65,000 per episode and 12.5% of the revenue. But a week later, they let her go.
She allegedly skipped production for the third and fourth episodes of the upcoming season owing to an old back ailment. They were planning to hang a nun in the marketplace, and the nun is Suzanne, Alan Hamel, who received a call from a friend with contacts at the network the day before Somers and her husband/manager returned to renegotiate.
After Somers was sacked from the program, Jenilee Harrison was cast as Chrissy's cousin Cindy Snow.
She told SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live, "That's very ordinary renegotiation." She was "in some ways astonished" by the discussions, but she "took that, how bewildered [she] was, and thought, 'Okay, well that's a sign. This could just not fit anymore.
She told Entertainment Weekly: "I simply thought, "Okay, well, maybe it signifies something," to feel like we weren't lining up in so many ways. But she also left the door open for her character to return when quitting the program. She came back in 2020 and is still.
Independence Day: Resurgence, the first sequel from Emmerich, was released in 2016. Smith was declined, though, "because he's too costly." Liam Hemsworth portrayed the new main character.
Maude was therefore murdered in the 2,000th episode, "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily," after she resigned. However, Roswell and Fox agreed in 2002. She has continued to portray Maude ever since, both as a ghost and in flashbacks.
As a result, they replaced him with Jake Gyllenhaal, who was at the time seeing Kirsten Dunst, the co-star, and ex-girlfriend of Tobey Maguire. However, Maguire's future father-in-law, Ron Meyer, president of Vivendi Universal at the time, assisted him in reclaiming the part. In the end, he received $17 million for the follow-up.
Although agents and managers somewhat regulate the procedure, and the Screen Actors Guild is now making it less subjective than in the past, not all financial discussions in Hollywood are successful. We've all heard of the gender wage gap, and we know that many women have asked for and obtained higher pay. It's safe to suppose that many male actors have placed bets on themselves and won, but what about those actors who pushed their luck and lost?
A raise request carries some risk. This is common knowledge. Sure, you could be rejected and shamed, but you also might lose your job. While this extreme reaction might be uncommon in Hollywood, it does occur. The performers on this list lost everything in exchange for a bigger slice of the pie, which caused them to go hungry.
1. Terrence Howard and Marvel
Source: Paramount
"I phoned my friend, who I assisted in getting the first job, but he didn't call me back for three months, he continued," Don Cheadle replaced Howard in the project due to Howard's departure.
2. Hilary Duff with Disney
Source: Walt Disney Co.
Disney believed they could intimidate us into accepting any deal they wanted to make, but they failed, Susan told Entertainment Weekly. Therefore, Disney decided to revoke the entire sequel deal, losing Hilary the $4 million salary and bonus she would have received.
3. Valerie Harper on Lorimar Productions
Source: Mario Casilli
She has previously had success with this strategy. By refusing to go elsewhere, she persuaded CBS to increase her weekly wage from $10,000 to $17,500 before the second season of Rhoda. She returned to the set when they agreed to a compromise of $65,000 per episode and 12.5% of the revenue. But a week later, they let her go.
4. Hugo Weaving in the role of Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
Source: Paramount
5. Suzanne Somers on Three's Company
Source: ABC courtesy Everett Collection
She allegedly skipped production for the third and fourth episodes of the upcoming season owing to an old back ailment. They were planning to hang a nun in the marketplace, and the nun is Suzanne, Alan Hamel, who received a call from a friend with contacts at the network the day before Somers and her husband/manager returned to renegotiate.
After Somers was sacked from the program, Jenilee Harrison was cast as Chrissy's cousin Cindy Snow.
6. Lauren Cohan on The Walking Dead
Source: AMC
She told SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live, "That's very ordinary renegotiation." She was "in some ways astonished" by the discussions, but she "took that, how bewildered [she] was, and thought, 'Okay, well that's a sign. This could just not fit anymore.
She told Entertainment Weekly: "I simply thought, "Okay, well, maybe it signifies something," to feel like we weren't lining up in so many ways. But she also left the door open for her character to return when quitting the program. She came back in 2020 and is still.
7. Robert Duvall in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
Source: Paramount Pictures courtesy Everett Collection
8. Will Smith in Independence Day.
Source: 20th Century Fox Film Corp
Independence Day: Resurgence, the first sequel from Emmerich, was released in 2016. Smith was declined, though, "because he's too costly." Liam Hemsworth portrayed the new main character.
9. Maggie Roswell on The Simpsons
Source: Fox
Maude was therefore murdered in the 2,000th episode, "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily," after she resigned. However, Roswell and Fox agreed in 2002. She has continued to portray Maude ever since, both as a ghost and in flashbacks.
10. Bruce Willis in The Expendables and The Expendables 2
Source: Lions Gate
11. Benicio del Toro in Star Trek Into Darkness
Source: Paramount
12. Jonah Hill in The Batman
Source: Taylor Hill
13. Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man (2002)
Source: ©Columbia Pictures
As a result, they replaced him with Jake Gyllenhaal, who was at the time seeing Kirsten Dunst, the co-star, and ex-girlfriend of Tobey Maguire. However, Maguire's future father-in-law, Ron Meyer, president of Vivendi Universal at the time, assisted him in reclaiming the part. In the end, he received $17 million for the follow-up.
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