Jim Carrey was paid $7 million for the original Dumb and Dumber, while his co-star Jeff Daniels — who shared top billing! — made just $50,000. Carrey wasn’t a big star when Dumb and Dumber went into production in 1994 and the comedy’s total budget was just $16 million — so how did he walk away with so much? “They offered him $350,000 to do the movie and he passed,” explains Peter Farrelly.
I’d wager most people prefer movies with actors they know (and like). For example if Morgan Freeman is in a movie I’m already thinking there’s at least one decent actor in there, so the likelihood of me watching it goes up.
And of course you know what you get usually. If Jim Carrey is in a movie, duh, you get slapstick humor most of the time. Samuel L. Jackson will probably play a cool guy and drop a few f-bombs. Chris Pratt? Probably an action movie with lighthearted humor. And so on.
It’s not only about the actor, but each one has a kind of brand too. And if the actor is expensive the production quality is usually decent.
I’d wager most people prefer movies with actors they know (and like). For example if Morgan Freeman is in a movie I’m already thinking there’s at least one decent actor in there, so the likelihood of me watching it goes up.
And of course you know what you get usually. If Jim Carrey is in a movie, duh, you get slapstick humor most of the time. Samuel L. Jackson will probably play a cool guy and drop a few f-bombs. Chris Pratt? Probably an action movie with lighthearted humor. And so on.
It’s not only about the actor, but each one has a kind of brand too. And if the actor is expensive the production quality is usually decent.