Which Actors Demanded Higher Pay for a Role?

Everyone knows that show business isn’t science, and it’s not always easy to be a star. There’s a lot of work that goes into making TV shows and movies, so actors want to ensure they get a salary that reflects their star pull and experience. Generally, when an actor is more successful, they have a higher asking price.

With that said, some studios don’t have the budget to pay actors what they want. Negotiations might be successful or not. Sometimes, actors walk away with huge checks, and others have a missed opportunity and nothing more. Here are the top actors who asked for more money:

1. Robert Downey, Jr.

Iron Man 2 was a top movie, and Robert Downey, Jr. was the lead actor. For the first one, he was paid $500,000, but he knew he could snag more for a sequel. He held firm and ended up making $10 million on the second film, with $75 million for the last.

2. Helen Hunt

Mad About You was a top sitcom that raked in tons of advertisers. The show was nothing without Paul Riser and Helen Hunt, though. Both actors demanded a raise for helping the sitcom get off the ground. Eventually, the network paid them $100,000 per episode.

3. Simon Cowell

American Idol is one of the biggest talent competitions throughout the world. Right from the beginning, Simon Cowell demanded a high salary, making $35 million each season. After his contract term of five years, he left the show.

4. Millie Bobby Brown

Stranger Things is now a cultural phenomenon and a highly popular American show. Most of the kids are now celebrities. Millie Bobby Brown ended up renegotiating her contract and made 10 times more than originally planned, with a bump of $250,000 per episode!

5. Rob Lowe

The West Wing was a drama about what happened in the White House and was a huge hit. It starred Rob Lowe for many of the seasons, but he left when his role diminished. Plus, he only made $75,000 per episode, with his costars making $300,000!

6. Michael C. Hall

There was a salary dispute for the seventh season of Dexter, but Hall eventually got his preferred salary. Showtime wanted to keep him happy, as the sixth season of the show was its highest-rated. He asked for $24 million, and that’s what he got!

7. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

In total, the crew of Seinfeld made $3.1 billion, primarily because it was a well-loved show. However, the Seinfeld cast was denied royalties, so Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus demanded to get $1 million per episode for the final season and got their wish.

8. Ray Romano

Everybody Loves Raymond was a popular show, lasting for a full six years. However, Ray wanted to renew his contract for $1.8 million per episode, which was astronomical at the time. He did get his wish, but the rest of the cast walked out in protest!

9. Evan Rachel Wood

Westworld is a fascinating television show from HBO and stars Jeffrey Wright, Thandi Newton, Ed Harris, and Evan Rachel Wood. She and her costars demanded a huge raise and ended up with $250,000 per episode for the third season.

10. Kelsey Grammer

Frasier has been dubbed the “smartest show on TV’, but it still had salary disputes. Kelsey Grammer earned over $1 million for each episode during the last two seasons. In total, he made $75 million from the series!

11. Jorja Fox

The drama surrounding salary negotiations for CSI actors was very intense. George Eads and Jorja Fox tried to negotiate for $20,000 per episode, but the network held firm and fired them both!

12. Chrissy Metz

Chrissy Metz became the star of This Is Us, which is now a highly popular television show. Many of the celebrities from the show got a huge pay raise before the third season. Now, she makes $250,000 for each episode instead of her original $40,000!

13. Daniel Dae Kim

Recent interviews bring to light Daniel Dae Kim’s story of his salary dispute with the producers of Hawaii Five-O. He left the show back in 2017 because he wanted pay equality for himself and Grace Park. However, the network denied the request, so they left the drama series.

14. Taraji P. Henson

Taraji P. Henson was in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and wanted to make $500,000. She was the third-billed actress for the film. However, she only made $150,000, which was lower than the other stars.

15. Sharon Stone

Basic Instinct couldn’t have gone far without the arresting and captivating character that Sharon Stone ended up playing. However, she only made $500,000, while some of the other stars made double that amount!

16. Kathy Griffin

Kathy Griffin is a great comedian who played the starring role on Suddenly Susan. This was one of her first paying gigs, and she wasn’t well-known at the time. Still, she was bummed about being the second-lowest paid actor, though she never revealed how much it was.

17. Halle Berry

Halle Berry is a model and actress and one of the most beautiful women on the screen. She’s been with Revlon, the beauty brand, for many years, but it wasn’t always good. When she demanded a raise of $1 million, the CEO said they should stick to the agreed-upon amount of $1.38 million.

18. Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers only earned $3,500 per week when she was in Three’s Company. That’s a decent wage, but she was working long hours. Plus, the male actors got much more. Though she did end up with $30,000 per week later, John Ritter was making $150,000 per week!

19. Jennifer Lopez

Viewers like to watch American Idol to see the judges and talent. When J-Lo started working in 2011, it was huge for Simon Cowell. She’s loved by many, but she kept demanding more money, at one point asking for $22 million! Since no one wanted to pay her that much, she left the show.

20. Steve Whitmire

Sesame Street is a well-known children’s program, but it had some ups and downs behind the scenes. Steve Whitmire, AKA Kermit the Frog, claims that Disney fired him after being Kermit’s voice for 27 years because he was outspoken and disrespectful about his salary.

21. Jaimee Foxworth

Jaimee Monae Foxworth was Judy in Family Matters, and everyone loved her character. However, they were shocked when she got fired. It happened slowly, as more and more of her scenes got cut. Overall, she asked for a pay raise, and the network didn’t like it.

22. Lauren Cohan

There were brief rumors about Lauren Cohan leaving The Walking Dead because of a salary dispute, but the actress said she wasn’t leaving the show. However, she didn’t deny that she was in renegotiations for her salary. No one knows what the proposed salary was supposed to be, though!

23. Will Ferrell

Adam McKay was the director and writer for Anchorman 2 and said it wasn’t cheap to bring back Will Ferrell for the sequel. He’s a top actor, and opening bids are $20 million for each movie. No one knows for sure, but Ferrell likely made anywhere from $10 million to $20 million!

24. Keanu Reaves

Though most people demand more money for films, Keanu Reaves did something different when he took a pay cut just so that he could work with Al Pacino in Devil’s Advocate. If he hadn’t, the studio might not have been able to hire him!

25. Brett Gray, Jason Genao, Diego Tinoco, and Sierra Capri

On My Block was a teen comedy-drama, and starred Brett Gray, Jason Genao, Diego Tinoco, and Sierra Capri. Initially, the stars made $20,000 per episode, but the third season tripled that because Netflix paid them each $65,000!

26. NeNe Leakes

NeNe Leakes was a popular character for the Real Housewives of Atlanta. This reality star lashed out against the network for not paying her what she deserved. That salary dispute was one of the primary reasons for her leaving the show before season 14.

27. Dylan Minette

The show 13 Reasons Why was a very thought-provoking drama about a teenager who was forced to end her life. After her death, Dylan Minette gets a box of tapes explaining the reasoning. After the first season, Minette was the main character and asked to make between $150,000 and $200,000 per episode!

28. Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis has been in many action movies, so he knows what he’s worth. Sylvester Stalone asked him to be in Expendables 3, but he couldn’t do it for free. This actor demanded $1 million per day, even though he didn’t have a major part. When it couldn’t be done, Bruce walked away.

29. Tom Cruise

Angelina Jolie did great in Salt, but it could have been much different. Tom Cruise wanted to be Edwin A. Salt but demanded $20 million that the studio couldn’t afford. Luckily, it all worked out for Jolie!

30. Katherine Heigl

Valentine’s Day had a good cast, with Kathy Bates, Bradley Cooper, and Jessica Alba. However, it almost included Katherine Heigl, but the star walked away when the producers couldn’t pay her $3 million!

31. Terrence Howard

Iron Man is one of the most lucrative movie characters. When Robert Downey, Jr. played Tony Stark, he wasn’t paid a lot. By the second time around, he built up the confidence to ask for more, but there was a problem. Disney chose to cut Terrence Howard’s salary by a whopping $7 million to balance everything out, and he declined the offer.

32. Charlie Sheen

Charlie was a popular star on Two and a Half Men and was offered $48 million for only two seasons. However, he demanded $100 million, and the network actually gave in to the demands. However, Sheen still got axed from the show in 2012.

33. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp has had a hard time over the past few years. While he was a hot commodity early on, his stardom faded in the 2010s. Therefore, he agreed to get paid $20 million for Black Mass. However, the studio then lowered the price to $10 million, so he walked away but returned later for an unknown amount of money.

34. Crispin Glover

Crispin Glover never hid the fact that he didn’t like being in Back to the Future. When he didn’t agree with the sequel script, the producers made life hard for him. Then, they slapped him in the face by only offering $150,000 for his role. That’s when he decided to end his time with the franchise.

35. Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford was a formidable actor, but you may not be able to picture him in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? If he hadn’t been so expensive, Bob Hoskins might not have gotten the part. Though the filmmakers wanted the star, they couldn’t afford to pay him because of his Indiana Jones stardom.

36. Laurence Fishburne

Samuel L. Jackson and Laurence Fishburne were both in the industry at the same time, so their stories often intertwine. Originally, Fishburne was offered the part of Jules in Pulp Fiction, though Jackson ended up with the role. Plus, Fishburne was supposed to be in Die Hard with a Vengeance, but Jackson was a cheaper alternative!

37. Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson is the type of actor that people see once every so often. He’s devilishly good and might have been perfect as Hades in Hercules, but he demanded $10 to $15 million instead of the $500,000 the producers wanted to pay.

38. Sean Connery

Sean Connery was one of the best Bonds and starred in seven movies. However, he demanded a pay increase of $750,000, and the studio didn’t agree. Therefore, another person was cast in the fifth film, though it didn’t work out, and Connery was back for the sixth.

39. Will Smith

Will Smith is a top Hollywood asset, but he demands tons of money. Independence Day was a memorable movie, and producers wanted him for the sequels. His asking price for the second and third movie was too much, at $50 million apiece!

40. Ellen Pompeo

Grey’s Anatomy is a popular medical drama, and Ellen Pompeo knew she held the cards. In the early days, she wasn’t paid much at all. She demanded more from the network and got $5,000 more than Dempsey. Now, she’s making $20 million per year as Meredith Grey!