Orlando Bloom reveals how much he made for The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Actor Orlando Bloom recently made an appearance on the Howard Stern show where he revealed the amount of money he was paid to appear as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Regarded as one of the best book-to-film adaptations in history, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies were met with critical and fan acclaim and are still celebrated to this day for their faithful portrayal of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novels. When the trio of films came out in the early 2000s, they shattered box office records and grossed nearly $3 billion according to Box Office Mojo.
Bloom was cast to play the elf Legolas, his first major role. Because he was a relative unknown, Bloom was paid just $175,000 for all three films, which amounts to around $300,000 in today’s money, adjusted for inflation. For roughly a year and a half of filming, that isn’t a bad chunk of change for an unknown at the time.
“Nothing, nothing I got nothing. $175,000 that’s what I got,” Bloom said with a smile. “Listen, greatest gift of my life, are you kidding me. And you’d do it again for half the money.”
Orlando Bloom was paid “nothing” for acting in The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Bloom credited his role as Legolas for putting him on the map and launching his career. After the LOTR trilogy, Bloom landed starring roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Kingdom of Heaven and Troy before reprising his role as Legolas when Peter Jackson adapted Tolkien’s The Hobbit into another three-film trilogy.
Bloom also revealed that he originally auditioned to play the role of Faramir, which eventually went to David Wenham.
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