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James Earl Jones -

James Earl Jones is well-known as the famed voice behind Darth Vader, but a resurfaced clip from the American Film Institute reveals that director George Lucas paid him just US$7,000 for his iconic addition to the first-ever 'Star Wars' film. 

Though late actor David Prowse wore the suit in 'Star Wars: A New Hope' (1977), Lucas wanted a "dark voice" and, as Jones explained it,  “So he hires a guy born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, who stutters. And that’s the voice. That’s me.” 

What's funny is that when Jones was explaining how much he made for the role, he was actually just excited about it. “I lucked out, from all these so-called handicaps, for a job that paid $7,000! I thought that was good money,” Jones told AFI. “And I got to be a voice on a movie!” Of course, the franchise went on to be one of the most lucrative in history, and surely Jones raked in much more for his subsequent work. 

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Tom Cruise - For his role in ‘Magnolia’ (1999), Cruise had an unusually low salary, seeing as how he is usually one of the most highly paid actors. He made $100,000 for the role.

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Jonah Hill - For the film ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013), Jonah Hill was so excited to get the role that he accepted the sum of $60,000, even though Leonardo DiCaprio was paid $10 million!

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Brad Pitt - For ‘Thelma & Louise’ (1991), the then-young Brad Pitt accepted a low salary of $6,000. At least it put him on the Hollywood map for other roles.

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George Clooney -

He is so successful that he does not even need a salary, apparently. He received upfront $3 for his role as Fred Friendly in ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ (2005).

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Dustin Hoffman -

For his breakout role in the film ‘The Graduate’ (1967), Hoffman was only paid $17,000. It definitely paid off, as now he is worth around $50 million.

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Gal Gadot - Somehow Gal Gadot was paid only $300,000 for the beloved superhero film ‘Wonder Woman’ (2017). This may seem like a lot, but compared to the $821 million it made in profits, it is a pittance. For the film's sequel, however, she made $10 million.

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Jamie Dornan - The hunky star was only paid $100,000 for his role as Christian Grey in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’(2015). Luckily, in order to make sure he appeared in the sequels, he was paid $6.92 million after the release of the first.

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Matthew McConaughey - McConaughey received an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ (2013), but not much money. He earned $200,000 for his time.

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John Travolta -

In the film ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994), John Travolta played one of the main characters, Vincent Vega. However, he was only paid $150,000. This is in stark contrast to the $20 million he was paid for ‘Swordfish’ (2001).

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Oprah Winfrey -

Oprah Winfrey was once just a small-time actress before she began her own talk show. In the wonderful film ‘The Color Purple' (1985), she was only paid $35,000.

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Chris Evans - Like Gal Gadot, even though he was the absolute star of ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (2011), Chris Evans was only paid $300,000 for the film. But don't feel too bad for him: Forbes reported that he made between $15 and $20 million for 'Avengers: Endgame' (2019).

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Jennifer Lopez - Lopez was not paid a single cent for her role as Ramona in the film ‘Hustlers’ (2019). But as one of the film's producers, she would've seen a profit. With a production budget of about $20 million, the film made $157.6 million worldwide.

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Ryan Gosling - For the film ‘Half Nelson’ (2006), where Ryan Gosling plays a drug addict teacher, the star was only paid $1,000 per week.

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Hilary Swank - Even though she won an Oscar for her role in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ (1999), Swank was only paid $3,000. She didn’t even qualify for health insurance with her salary!

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Jim Carrey - When Jim Carrey first accepted the role of Carl in ‘Yes Man’ (2008), he was paid nothing at all. However, he negotiated a deal for 36.2% of the profits when the film was released. It wasn’t predicted to do well, but luckily it did and he pocketed a large sum in the end.

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Kerry Washington - There is some disparity here. For the TV show ‘Scandal,’ Washington was paid $250,000 per episode. It's certainly a lot. However, it is strangely small next to other people who work on popular TV dramas, such as Mark Harmon from 'NCIS,' who takes home $525,000 per episode.

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Lindsay Lohan - For the film flop ‘The Canyons’ (2013), poor Lindsey Lohan only received $7,000. It seems her past caught up with her career.

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Julia Roberts - On her road to fame, she accepted some low-paid roles. For instance, $50,000 for her role in ‘Mystic Pizza’ (1988).

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Julia Roberts - One of the most important films of her career, ‘Pretty Woman’ (1990), did not pay the lead actress very well either. She earned $300,000, while her co-star Richard Gere earned millions!

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John Candy (1950-1994) - Even though his cameo in ‘Home Alone’ (1990) was short, it certainly was memorable. He is responsible for getting Kevin’s mom home to him. However, Candy was only paid $414 for his work.

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Jennifer Lawrence - For her critically-acclaimed role in the film ‘Winter’s Bone’ (2010), Lawrence was only paid $3,000 per week.

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Jennifer Lawrence - Lawrence was also only paid $500,000 for her role as Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’ (2012). This seems like a lot, but it's quite a small sum when you think of how successful the film was. Don't feel too sorry for her though: she earned $10 million for the sequel, and the final two films saw her bring in $30-40 million.

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Jennifer Lawrence - But Lawrence was paid a less-than-normal sum again for the film ‘American Hustle’(2013). She spoke out claiming that the female members of the cast were paid less because of their gender. She got 7% of the profits, but the men got 9%.

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Patricia Arquette -

Arquette won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the film ‘Boyhood’ (2014). However, she said in an interview that she was paid less than she pays her babysitter.

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Jamie Lee Curtis - For the popular film ‘Halloween’ (1978), Jamie Lee Curtis was only earning around $2,000 per week. She made a total of just $8,000.

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Michelle Williams - For the film ‘All the Money in the World’ (2017), Williams was paid $625,000. It seems like a lot, but it's not when you consider that her co-star Mark Wahlberg was paid an astonishing $5 million.

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Bill Murray - Wes Anderson and Bill Murray collaborate on most of the director’s movies. But for the film ‘Rushmore’ (1998), Murray was only paid $9,000.

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Daisy Ridley and John Boyega -

For ‘Stars Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens’ (2015), these two actors were paid between $100,000 and $300,000. This is very little compared to Harrison Ford’s $20 million salary from the film.

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Spencer Lacey Ganus -

You may not know her name, but she voices teen Elsa in the extremely popular Disney film ‘Frozen’ (2013). But she was only paid $926 for her role. The residual checks did not make too much of a difference either–they amounted to $10,000, even though the movie grossed $1.2 billion.

Sources: (Insider) (Her Moments)

See also: Celebs who've spoken out about the gender pay gap

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