Cate Blanchett Says She “Didn’t Get Paid Anything” for ‘Lord of the Rings’

During her appearance on Watch What Happens Live alongside Borderlands co-star Gina Gershon, Cate Blanchett didn’t plead the fifth when host Andy Cohen brought up her Lord of the Rings pay.

When Cohen asked the Oscar winner during the late night show’s popular “Plead the Fifth” segment which film has gotten her the biggest paycheck, Blanchett wanted to hear the host’s guess before answering. “I think it’s probably Lord of the Rings,” said Cohen.

Blanchett, seemingly finding a way around having to plead the fifth, responded, “Are you kidding me?! No, I didn’t get paid anything to do that movie!”

Cohen was shocked and wondered what happened. “I wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead,” she replied, referencing Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s 1992 zombie flick. “I mean, I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my ears — which is something they fed me,” the actress joked.

When the host tried to get an honest answer on the highest-paying role Blanchett has had, the actress responded, “I mean, women don’t get paid as much as you think they do.”

While it’s unlikely that Blanchett actually worked for free on the trilogy, it’s likely that her paycheck wasn’t as hefty as some may think. Orlando Bloom said on The Howard Stern Show that he only received $175,000 for the trilogy. However, Bloom didn’t seem to mind. “It was the greatest gift of my life. I’d do it again for half the money,” he told Stern.

Elsewhere during the episode, Blanchett and Gershon played “Have! You! Met Them!?”, where they had to share whether they had met certain celebrities. When asked whether either of them had met the late Queen Elizabeth, Blanchett shared she had lunch at Buckingham Palace. But what left a lasting impression was her interaction with Prince Philip. “He just asked if I could help him with his DVD player, because I was an actress,” she recalled.

“Did you help him?” asked Cohen. “No, I did not!” replied Blanchett. “I’m not technical.”