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Elijah Wood says the 'Lord of the Rings' cast's low salaries on the multibillion-dollar trilogy were 'understandable'

Elijah Wood said his salary for playing Frodo Baggins in "Lord of the Rings" wasn't life-changing, but the experience was one of the best of his life.

"Because we weren't making one movie and then renegotiating a contract for the next, it wasn't the sort of lucrative scenario that you could sort of rest easy for the rest of your life," Wood told Business Insider on the red carpet for the 2025 Texas Film Awards hosted by the Austin Film Society. Wood described New Line Cinema's buy-in on three movies featuring a sprawling ensemble cast as "a real gamble," one that he said was mitigated by "not massive salaries." When asked about unconfirmed rumors that he was paid $250,000 for "The Fellowship of the Ring," Wood said that figure wasn't accurate but declined to elaborate.

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