Sean Astin forced to sell house after 'small' Lord of the Rings salary

Sean Astin has revealed he received such a small salary for his role on The Lord of the Rings, he had to sell his house.

The actor confessed he ran into money troubles after playing the role of Samwise Gamgee.

In an interview published this week, Sean, 55, told The Guardian he received so little for his part in each of the three Lord of the Rings movies - despite the franchise pulling in more than $2.8 billion at the box office.

"There was a disconnect between the attention that I was getting and how much money we had," the actor recalled. "It was not a lot of money!"

He explained the pay for his part in the epic trilogy was so minimal, he soon found himself in financial hot water and had to sell off his major asset - his home.

"In fact, I had to sell my house because I negotiated such a small amount on the trilogy," Sean said.

Given the franchise's immense success, Sean told the outlet he would love to reprise his role for one of the instalments currently in development - Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.

"I don't think anybody is opposed to it," he said. "We'd all love to connect to those characters, particularly if it's done with such sensitivity as we heard."

And the actor, now national president of the actors union SAG-AFTRA, agreed he was ready to negotiate a higher salary if he re-engaged with the franchise: "Goddam right."

In 2017, Sean told The Jim and Sam Show podcast he had been paid USD$75,000 (£56,000) per movie to play Samwise, making his total salary for the project around USD$225,000 (£169,000).

Co-star Cate Blanchett, who played the elf Galadriel in the franchise, joked in 2024 she had worked for free food and done so happily for the opportunity to work with the trilogy's director, Peter Jackson.

"I wanted to work with the guy who made (Jackson's 1992 zombie comedy) Braindead," Cate, 57, said. "I mean, I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my ears. No, no one got paid anything!"