7 Actors Who Donated Their Whole Film Wage To A Good Trigger

Discover out why these actors gave up their wage…

In 2008, Beyoncé was paid $4 million to star in Cadillac Information as a younger Etta James — however she reportedly didn’t preserve any of her wage. Beyoncé donated everything of her salary to the Phoenix Home, a drug therapy middle that helps over 5,000 recovering addicts day-after-day. Whereas getting ready for the position, Bey had hung out at one among their rehab amenities to be taught extra about Etta, who had stayed at the same middle to deal with her heroin dependancy within the Nineteen Seventies.

Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, later shared that a part of her daughter’s donation was put in the direction of opening a cosmetology college for individuals from Phoenix Home who needed to be taught a life talent that would assist them get again on their toes.

“My mom and I imagine that anybody can succeed with a bit of assist,” Beyoncé shared. “The middle will help these ladies and men to attain their targets, to be impartial, self-fulfilled, and finally assist in their restoration course of.”

After filming his 2013 film Gimme Shelter, Brendan Fraser reportedly donated his whole wage to A number of Sources Shelters — and his co-star, James Earl Jones, did the identical. The movie was primarily based on a real-life pregnant teenager who had lived at one of many shelters. Director Ron Krauss says he was shocked that Brendan and James even needed to be within the movie.

“I used to be bowled over as a result of he was a giant actor, and I didn’t actually count on to have huge actors on this film,” he instructed Nationwide Overview. “It actually had an genuine forged, whose motivation was not about cash, however about getting an genuine message out.”

In 2023, Anna Kendrick was simply weeks away from the premiere of her movie Girl of the Hour when she realized that she didn’t need to preserve any cash created from the film. The movie, primarily based on the lifetime of serial killer Rodney Alcaca, chronicled his quite a few murders in addition to the second throughout his killing spree when he infamously appeared on The Relationship Recreation. Anna determined she felt “gross” maintaining the cash and determined to donate it to RAINN and to the Nationwide Middle for Victims of Violent Crime.

“This was by no means a money-making enterprise for me. Ultimately, Netflix purchased the film. However it wasn’t till, like, the week earlier than Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition that I assumed, ‘Oh, the film’s gonna earn money,’” Anna shared on the Crime Junkie AF podcast. “I requested myself the query of, ‘Do you are feeling gross about this?’ And I did.”

After engaged on A Wet Day in New York, Timothée Chalamet and his co-stars needed to rethink their choice to work with director Woody Allen, who was dealing with abuse allegations on the time. Whereas Timothée couldn’t share his precise ideas on the matter due to contractual obligations, Timothée ended up deciding that he didn’t need to revenue from the movie. He donated his wage to TIME’S UP, The LGBT Middle in New York, and RAINN.

“This yr has modified the way in which I see and really feel about so many issues; it has been an exhilarating and, at occasions, enlightening training. I’ve, so far, chosen tasks from the angle of a younger actor making an attempt to stroll within the footsteps of extra seasoned actors I like,” Timothée wrote on Instagram. “However I’m studying {that a} good position is not the one standards for accepting a job – that has turn out to be a lot clearer to me previously few months, having witnessed the start of a robust motion intent on ending injustice, inequality and above all, silence.”

He continued, “I need to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with courageous artists who’re combating for all individuals to be handled with the respect and dignity they deserve.”

Heath Ledger was in the course of filming The Imaginarium of Physician Parnassus when he died of an unintended overdose. Because the film was solely midway full, the crew behind the movie scrambled to determine what to do. In the long run, Heath’s pals Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp and Jude Regulation all stood in for Heath — and donated all the cash to his daughter Matilda.

“They got here; they did the work; they allowed the film to be completed; they didn’t take cash — the cash goes to Heath’s daughter. That’s extraordinary! And great…and once you’re a part of that, you suppose, ‘Ah, that is perhaps why I went into the flicks, at first. I assumed it might be filled with great individuals.’ And in our case, we’ve bought a film filled with great individuals, who did extraordinary issues to assist,” director Terry Gilliam shared.

In 2021, Michael Sheen shared that he had just lately determined to turn out to be a “not-for-profit” actor and needed to donate any of his additional earnings to fund social tasks. He made the selection after donating a big amount of cash to fund the Homeless World Cup — and realized it was one thing he may very well be doing on a regular basis.

“I’ve primarily turned myself right into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor…I’ve realized in the previous few years that I need to be a kind of individuals who assist different individuals the way in which so many individuals helped me. I don’t need to simply be somebody who enjoys the fruits of what different individuals have accomplished after which pull the drawbridge up,” Michael stated in an interview with Huge Challenge.

Al Pacino’s 1980 movie Cruising, which was a couple of serial killer who focused homosexual males in Manhattan, confronted a variety of backlash from the LGBTQ+ neighborhood when it was launched. On the time, he allegedly acquired demise threats, but it surely wasn’t till after filming wrapped that he realized that it was “an exploitative movie.” He stated he ended up quietly donating his wage to charities.

“After I stated sure to it, I assumed it was going to be a murder-mystery thriller with some edge to it, I used to be not as delicate as I might have been concerning the stigmatization of the homosexual neighborhood and the way this materials depicted them,” Al wrote in Sonny Boy: A Memoir.

He continued, “I took the cash and it was so much, and I put it in an irrevocable belief fund, which means as soon as I gave it, there was no taking it again. I gave it to charities, and with the curiosity, it was in a position to final a few a long time…It was at all times donated anonymously as a result of I did not need to make it a PR stunt — I simply needed one constructive factor to return out of that entire expertise.”