Rory McIlRoy latest paycheck has him wearing and rolling in green.
On April 13, the Irish professional golfer reached a new career peak by triumphing at the Masters tournament held at the Augusta National Golf Club. This marked his first victory in the competition after close to two decades as a Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) golfer. At age 35, he became the sixth player ever to accomplish the Career Grand Slam, which involves winning all four major golf championships. However, the cherry on top is that his win also earned him a substantial financial reward.
In fact, the 2025 Masters tournament offered a staggering prize pool of $21 million to its 95 competitors. As a result, Rory pocketed an impressive $4.2 million following his victory, which was approximately $600,000 more than Scottie Scheffler received for his triumph in the previous year’s tournament.
Rory, along with his wife Erica Stoll and their 4-year-old daughter Poppy, wasn’t the only one who received a significant amount of money from the tournament. Justin Rose, who ended up in second place, pocketed $2.2 million, while Patrick Reed, in third place, earned $1.4 million. Even though Scheffler dropped to fourth position for this year’s event in Georgia, he still walked away with over $1 million.
Even the golfers who had more mistakes (bogeys) than successful shots (birdies) at the prestigious tournament still got some money in their pockets. The lowest-ranked players pocketed a minimum of $25,000, with all top 10 players taking home over six figures, and the top 50 earning at least $50,000 each.
Indeed, Rory certainly added his name to an illustrious group, including Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Gene Sarazen, by becoming a Grand Slam title holder. Notably, this was the 18th attempt for him, but it was undoubtedly worth the wait as he clinched the Masters title along with its record-breaking highest cash prize.
Rory confessed, moments after receiving the tournament trophy, that there had been a great deal of suppressed emotion that suddenly burst out on the 18th green. He added that such a moment made every single year and every near miss worthwhile.
After Rory’s triumphant victory, the golf community was buzzing with joy about his accomplishment. Tiger, having clinched the Grand Slam title in 2000, took to social media to extend his well wishes to the winner.
On April 13th, Tiger (who’s currently in a relationship with Vanessa Trump) penned down: “To complete the grand slam at Augusta is truly remarkable.” He continued, “Your resilience during this round and throughout your journey has shone brightly. Now, you’re part of history. I’m incredibly proud of you!
Keep reading for more stars’ eye-popping paychecks…
Jennifer Lawrence, a previous Academy Award recipient, earned approximately $25 million to feature in Adam McKay’s ensemble disaster comedy “Don’t Look Up”. However, her costar and fellow Oscar laureate, Leonardo DiCaprio, received $30 million for his role in the same film.
Speaking to Vanity Fair for their December 2020/January 2021 issue, Lawrence commented, “Leo earns more at the box office than I do.” She added that she’s content with her contract, but has encountered discomfort in asking for equal pay. She noted that many women in the workforce have experienced this unease when questioning apparent wage inequality. If you do bring it up, she said, you’re often told it’s not due to gender disparity, yet they can’t explain what else it might be.
In my relentless fandom, I’ve always admired Lawrence’s radiant spirit. When the stark contrast between her earnings and those of her male costars for “American Hustle” (2013) became public knowledge following the 2014 Sony email leak, it sparked a widespread dialogue about the pay disparity between genders in Hollywood.
In 2017, Lawrence expressed to Channel 4 News in the U.K., “I consider myself incredibly lucky with my job. However, it’s not about the money for me,” she stated. “What upset me wasn’t the amount of money I received for a movie, that’s preposterous. Instead, I felt anger over the unjustness and inequality.
In stark contrast to Leonardo DiCaprio’s earnings: Jonah Hill received approximately $60,000 (pre-commissions and taxes) for his role in 2013’s “The Wolf of Wall Street”, whereas the film’s lead character pocketed a cool $10 million.
In 2014, on The Howard Stern Show, Hill remembered that they offered him the smallest amount of money imaginable. However, it was an opportunity to act in a Martin Scorsese film, so the former star of Moneyball was eager to finalize the agreement before anyone could reconsider.
Hill explained, “I’d be willing to sell my house and empty my bank account just to work with Scorsese. Money isn’t what you accumulate it for; you could do films like ’22 Jump Street’, or other projects, and still manage your living expenses. But this? This is about passion. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. It’s not about money; it’s about doing things that matter to you.
Oprah Winfrey happily accepted only a little bit of green to star in 1985’s The Color Purple.
In a conversation with Essence in 2023, the media tycoon shared that they were offered $35,000 for a film role, which turned out to be the most valuable $35,000 they had ever made. They went on to say that this experience transformed their life and taught them many valuable lessons.
In the 1997 biographical movie “Selena,” Jennifer Lopez played the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla, making her the first Latin actress to receive a million dollars for her role in a film.
In an interview with Variety back in 2019, Lopez admitted that she was quite young and rather clueless about the situation surrounding her breakout film. She added that receiving a million dollars for the role seemed fantastic to her at the time, suggesting that everyone involved might have been making a powerful statement.
Her success opened up opportunities for her to earn even more than $100 million, with some instances where her involvement didn’t require any payment at all.
Lopez stated to GQ in 2019 that he performs tasks due to his passion for them. He didn’t make a large sum of money from Hustlers; instead, he did it without pay and even produced it himself. Essentially, he bets on himself, similar to ‘Jenny From the Block,’ as he does what he loves.
Adrien Brody didn’t star in “The Brutalist” for financial gain. Instead, he portrayed a Hungarian architect struggling with his art in post-WWII America for a fee of $250,000 and received his second Oscar as the Best Actor for his performance.
Brody told Variety that he urgently needs to work on a studio film right now, as he’s invested everything into the grand-looking barn he’s restoring in upstate New York.
Pete Davidson humorously responded to New York magazine by saying, “Have you guys ever wondered what we get paid?” as they discussed his financial management upon joining Saturday Night Live at age 20 back in 2014. In essence, he joked that each episode earned him around $3,000, so he likely spent it all on dinners.
Remarkably, starting salaries for SNL newcomers have stayed comparable over the years. For instance, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase were said to be earning $750 per episode in 1975. This amount equates to approximately $3,300 in 2014 using the Consumer Price Index Inflation calculator. However, if we adjust for inflation up to 2025, this $750 from 1975 would be equivalent to around $4,428.
Currently, Kenan Thompson earns significantly more than $3,000 per episode of SNL, given that he’s now in his impressive 22nd season. However, as a former Nickelodeon star, he had humble beginnings and had to start from scratch.
In Demi Lovato’s 2024 documentary “Child Star”, the former All That star recollected, “The very first commercial I got paid for was $800. At 12 years old, that felt like a fortune to me, almost like a million dollars.
It turns out Gilmore Girls’ status as a beloved rewatchable classic is literally priceless.
Lauren Graham, who starred as Lorelai Gilmore for seven seasons and then returned to the role for 2016’s “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” shared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in March 2025 that there are no residual payments from Netflix. Instead, she has been compensated with love and appreciation.
Tommy Dorfman openly discussed her earnings from “13 Reasons Why” during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, a labor action sparked in part by streaming services like Netflix not consistently providing extra remuneration to actors and crew when a series becomes highly successful.
In a post on Threads dated July 24, Dorfman shared that her total earnings for the first season of “13 Reasons Why” were $29,953.24 before deducting agency and manager fees (which amounted to 20%) and taxes. She mentioned this was from eight episodes filmed over a six-month period. Additionally, she disclosed that she did all the promotional work, had key art for the show, traveled roundtrip from New York City to San Francisco for every episode shoot, and was kept for extended periods without pay or insurance, barely qualifying for it.
In the initial 28 days following its premiere, Season 1 of the show accumulated an impressive 476 million viewing hours. This is the reason behind our decision to take action.
On his podcast, Dax Shepard subtly mentioned to Lauren Graham, a co-star from their show “Parenthood”, that during the series’ six-season run, he was among the least paid actors in the cast.
But, the Armchair Expert host stressed that he did not mind.
He shared that before becoming a parent, he always took the initiative to discover what everyone was earning from their jobs. He would either have a discussion with them to learn this information or use indirect methods by reaching out through an intermediary like an agent.
As a dedicated follower, I consciously avoided delving into details about my lineage in terms of Parenthood, finding joy in the journey regardless of occasional hints regarding my position within the organizational hierarchy.
George Clooney shared with the Los Angeles Times in 2005 that he personally invested a dollar to produce the film “Good Night, and Good Luck”. To achieve this, he had to cash his own check as director and give up his acting salary. Co-writer and co-producer Grant Heslov, along with him, also earned a dollar for their contributions.
The passionate tribute about CBS News journalist Edward R. Murrow standing up against authority in the 1950s proved to be quite impactful: Clooney is set to make his Broadway debut by portraying Murrow in a stage adaptation of the movie. Furthermore, during its pre-opening week, the play broke a Broadway record (for nonmusicals) by earning $3.3 million, which means Clooney will be bringing in significantly more than $1 after it officially opened on April 3.
In the role of Patrick Bateman in the 2000 film “American Psycho”, Christian Bale revealed that he was paid the bare minimum wage they could legally offer him. This was because, as he shared with GQ in 2022, the production team had reservations about hiring him, except for director Mary Harron who insisted on casting him.
According to Bale, he earned such a small amount that he vividly recalls the makeup artists chuckling at him in the makeup trailer since his pay was lower than what any of them were receiving.
Although his uncle might have been named Rico, Jon Heder revealed in 2010 that he was initially compensated with just $1,000 for the movie Napoleon Dynamite at first.
Following the unexpected success of his offbeat comedy, he successfully negotiated a portion of the earnings. He shared with the New Zealand Herald, “The deal was slightly improved.
Djimon Hounsou openly admitted that he has been unfairly compensated in the film industry, despite boasting an impressive resume that includes films like “Amistad” and “Blood Diamond”.
As a seasoned filmmaker with over two decades under my belt, I shared my story with Larry Madowo from CNN back in 2025. Despite two Oscar nods and numerous roles in massive blockbusters, I’m still battling financial struggles to sustain myself.
In her 2024 memoir titled “Rebel Rising”, Rebel Wilson disclosed that she received $3,500 for the film Bridesmaids, a payment which she actually used to become a member of the Screen Actors Guild. In essence, this meant she earned no actual money from the role.
Still, she wrote, the experience was “everything!”
The Australian actress’ fame soared significantly, with her paycheck increasing from the SAG minimum wage of $65,000 for “Pitch Perfect” in 2012, all the way up to $10 million for “Pitch Perfect 3” in 2017. According to Wilson, she earned a total of $20 million for “Pitch Perfect 3,” “Isn’t It Romantic,” and “The Hustle.” However, it’s important to note that she “lost nearly half of that amount to taxes, 10% to agents, and 5% to her lawyer.” After fulfilling her financial obligations, including paying her publicist, business manager, and assistant, Wilson was left with a substantial sum of money that she considered a massive fortune.
Toward the end of 2017, Ellen Pompeo managed to secure a new deal for her role in Grey’s Anatomy, earning approximately $575,000 per episode, receiving a large one-time bonus, and gaining two units of backend equity worth an estimated $6 million to $7 million.
In 2018, Pompeo expressed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that at age 48, she’s finally confident enough to ask for what she rightfully deserves. She explained that this self-assuredness didn’t come easily; it’s something that matures over time. However, the entertainment industry might perceive her as less relevant due to her long-standing role of 14 years. But Pompeo argued that while being good on a show during its first two seasons is common, remaining consistently excellent for 14 years is a true skill.
More recently, Ellen Pompeo has been pondering over the fact that her co-star Patrick Dempsey earned more than her despite her being ‘The Grey’, and yet she doesn’t resent him for it.
In a March 2025 episode of Call Her Daddy, she expressed, “Given that I am the namesake of this show, I felt I deserved equal treatment. That was more challenging to achieve. I wasn’t resentful about what he received. I was resentful because they didn’t appreciate me as much as they appreciated him, and they never will.
Back in 1978, when Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut in ‘Halloween’, she was earning $2,000 per week, totaling $8,000 for the movie. As she put it to Rotten Tomatoes in 2018, “To be honest, nobody received any payment at all back then.
Even though the “scream queen” received four-figure payments, John Carpenter’s friend Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers, felt like royalty earning just $25 per day to split the role. In fact, it was Anthony Moran whose face was briefly revealed when the killer removed his mask, and editor Tommy Lee Wallace also logged screen time as Michael.
In 2018, Castle, who went to film school with Carpenter at USC, shared with Vanity Fair that “at the time, it was quite an experience!” He added, “It’s important to recall: My motivation for joining the project was to be on set and understand the world of filmmaking. I assumed I’d just be there without pay. But little did I know, they were offering $25 a day, and all I had to do was wear a rubber mask.
Taraji P. Henson received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2008’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” but even years later, she was still passionate about the $150,000 she earned for the role—after producers turned down her initial request of $500,000.
Regarding the main characters of the movie, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, Henson noted on the Ladies First With Laura Brown podcast in 2021 that “Back then, it wasn’t common to hear about $20 million salaries, but it was indeed the case. And honestly, I think they were rightfully paid what they deserved.
However, she added, “I also planned to contribute a specific amount to the film’s box office seat sales, and at that point in my career, I believed what I was asking for was reasonable, given the ticket sales I would help generate. I declined.” Henson was disappointed when they initially offered $100,000, she reminisced. “In the end, I received $150,000, but I had to set my pride aside.
Henson clarified, “People often say, ‘150,000 dollars, that’s a substantial amount!’ However, I don’t want anyone to think I’m unappreciative, as that’s not my character. But when you consider that half goes to taxes, that leaves around 75,000 dollars. Before taxes are deducted, I need to pay my team 30%. So, after the government takes its 50%, and my team gets their 30% from the remaining amount, I might be left with approximately 40,000 dollars?
Although Cate Blanchett amassed significant wealth throughout her career, not all of it can be attributed to her role as the royal elf Galadriel in the The Lord of the Rings series, despite its impressive $2.9 billion global box office revenue.
She responded sharply on “Watch What Happens Live” in August 2024 when Andy Cohen suggested the Lord of the Rings trilogy was her biggest paycheck. “Nobody received any payment for that film…I mean, I essentially just got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my ears.” (This version maintains the original’s tone while using more conversational language.)
Instead of saying “They weren’t paid a precious amount,” you could say “They didn’t receive a substantial sum.”
In 2023, Orlando Bloom, who portrayed the elven warrior Legolas, revealed on The Howard Stern Show that he was compensated $175,000 for all three films in the trilogy.
Hopefully he also got to keep his ears.
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2025-04-15 21:18