Brad Pitt! George Clooney! 10 Celebrities Who Received Shockingly Low Salaries for Their Iconic Film Roles

While some Hollywood stars were paid low, Adam Levine revealed he received nothing when he debuted in the indie film Begin Again.

"I did this movie for no money. I'm very lucky that I'm in that position," Levine informed USA Today of his role as Dave in the flick.

"I want to have good experiences. I don't want to do a bunch of s--t that I hate. I want to treat [acting] completely differently because I have the very fortunate luxury of not having to think of this in terms of money," Levine went on.

Starring as J.D. in Thelma & Louise, Brad Pitt only brought home $6,000 despite the character being his first major role.

"I was going west. I landed and went straight to McDonald's. I got a newspaper. I had $275 (£200) to my name, and I saw in the paper that you could sign up for work as an extra, so I signed up for three places. Within a week, I was doing extra work, and I was really, really happy," he told The Sun about his move to Hollywood.

Christian Bale only earned $1 million when he starred as Patrick Bateman in the hit film American Psycho. According to reports, he made less than the makeup artists.

"They had paid me the absolute minimum they were legally allowed to pay me," Bale revealed to GQ. "And I had a house that I was sharing with my dad and my sister and that was getting repossessed. So the first thing was: 'Holy crap. I've got to get a bit of money,' because I've got American Psycho done, but I remember one time sitting in the makeup trailer and the makeup artists were laughing at me because I was getting paid less than any of them."

He continued, "And so that was my motivation after that. Was just: 'I got to get enough that the house doesn't get repossessed.'"

The project became one of his breakthrough roles and made him one of the best stars in Hollywood.

George Clooney had different roles in Good Night, and Good Luck. He did the writing, directing, and acting but only got paid $1 for each role. The film was a massive success as it garnered different accolades, including six Academy Award nominations.

George Harrison famously appeared in Star Wars: A New Hope as Han Solo. While the franchise was a massive success, he only received an offer of $10,000 to do the film.

Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis scored her first Halloween movie in 1978. Titled Halloween, the movie reportedly gave her $8,000 for her appearance and an extra $200 for her clothes for the project.

Dumb and Dumber allowed Jeff Daniels to star with Jim Carrey, but his $50,000 salary was way lower than what the latter received — $7 million.

"Jeff Daniels was not the obvious choice because he hadn't done any, you know, out and out comedies before that," Bobby Farrelly told The Hollywood Reporter. "He was always comedic in his roles."

Daniels, instead of turning down the offer, proceeded with his appearance and accepted the low salary.

In her interview with GQ, Jennifer Lopez revealed she worked on the award-winning film Hustlers for free.

"I do things because I love them. I didn't get paid a whole bunch of money for Hustlers," she said. "I did it for free and produced it. I bank on myself. That's the Jenny From the Block. I do what I want, I do what I love."

Even Oprah Winfrey wholeheartedly accepted a low pay to play a notable role in a film.

The Color Purple tapped the Queen of All Media to play the role of Sofia in the 2023 flick. She shared with Essence why she accepted the project although she was only paid $35,000 and why she considered the amount the best she had ever earned.

"To have all of you beautiful Black women bearing witness to the story, as the story moves forward, means so much. I believe that what Fantasia (Barrino) has said is true: Everybody who comes to see our film is going to be touched. They will be moved. And they will be healed. So thank you for the blessing," she continued.