Cate Blanchett claims ‘no one got paid anything’ on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings

Cate Blanchett as Lady Galadriel in Lord of the Rings.

Cate Blanchett has claimed that “no one got paid anything” for Lord of the Rings.

The 55-year-old actress starred as Galadriel in the big-screen adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic novel series, but when it was suggested the movie was her “biggest” pay cheque to date, she insisted that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Speaking on Watch What Happens Live, she told host Andy Cohen: “Are you kidding me? No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.”

Andy then asked the Oscar-winning star if she received a piece of the back-end — a term meaning actors receive a percentage of box-office profits upon the film’s release — and she replied that was not the case either, as she insisted her only motivation to do the film was to work with director Peter Jackson.

Cate Blanchett says her only motivation to do Lord of the Rings was to work with Peter Jackson. Photo / Getty Images

She said: “No, that was way before any of that … no, nothing. I wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead. I mean, I basically got free sandwiches and I got to keep my [prosthetic] ears. No, no one got paid anything!”

The Tár actress — who has a reported net worth of US$95 million ($158m) — was then asked to name what her biggest pay cheque to date was, but remained coy and insisted only that women tend not to make the huge sums of money within the entertainment industry that may be expected or assumed by the masses.

“Well, not very often. Women don’t get paid as much as you think they do.”

This year, Blanchett was participating in a United Nations press conference during the Cannes Film Festival when she described herself as a “middle-class” woman with a vested interest in helping others.

Sean Astin as Sam and Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

When asked about her experience as a UN goodwill ambassador and giving refugee filmmakers a platform, she said: “I’m white, I’m privileged, I’m middle class, and I think, you know, one can be accused of having a bit of a white-saviour complex, but to be perfectly honest, my interaction with the refugees in the field and also in resettled environments has totally changed my perspective on the world.”