There are few actors in history who come close to matching the legacy that Jack Nicholson has achieved in Hollywood, and this has come on the heels of decades of work. Nicholson has had one major role after the next during his career, and even after missing out on some big opportunities, he still found a way to thrive and impress with his work.
Nicholson has made a fortune through the years, with many films paying a premium to get him on board. One studio even paid him six figures for every word that he spoke in their project!
Let’s see which film paid Jack Nicholson a fortune for every word he spoke.
Jack Nicholson Is A Legendary Actor
Few performers in history get the chance to go down as a legend of the business, and the few that are able to tend to have careers that thrive for decades. Sure, stars like James Dean are an exception, but they aren’t the rule. In the case of Jack Nicholson, his illustrious career has spanned multiple decades, and through it all, Nicholson continuously delivered amazing performances that inspired legions of actors.
After beginning his career in the 1950s and steadily working during the 60s, things really hit a fever pitch for Nicholson when he broke out as a star thanks to his performance in Easy Rider. That film was the launching point for Nicholson, and movie fans at the time had absolutely no idea what he would go on to accomplish. Needless to say, Nicholson took charge of his career and never looked in the rear view.
The 1970s would continue Nicholson’s impressive run, as films like Carnal Knowledge, The Last Detail, Chinatown, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest all helped show the world that he was one of the best actors around. The 80s was more of the same, as Nicholson was sublime in films like The Shining, Terms of Endearment, and Batman.
Throughout the 90s and beyond, Nicholson would steadily add to his legacy, and at this point, few performers can compete with his accomplishments. Thanks to this, Nicholson has made bank, as have a few other performers who reached the top. In fact, some of these stars tend to make a mint with relatively few words, depending on the project that they are cast in.
Some Stars Have Made Bank For Their Words
For most people, working less and making more would be a dream come true, and the same goes for actors. Why have a wordy performance for standard scale when you can speak few words and make a fortune? It doesn’t happen often, but some performers have cashed in thanks to their performances that involve few words.
A perfect example of this is Chris Evans’ per-word salary in Avengers: Infinity War. For that film, Evans was paid a staggering $15 million, and he only spoke a total of 145 words in the movie. This translates to a whopping $102,740 for each word that he spoke. This is one of the biggest per-word salaries in history, and a few other stars have made some serious money, as well.
Kurt Russell made $144,231 per word for Soldier, Johnny Depp made $66,606 per word for Alice in Wonderland, and Keanu Reeves took home $159,393 per word for his world on Matrix: Reloaded and Matrix: Revolution. Again, this is not something that happens all too often, but when it does, the stars that are collecting the checks have got to be thrilled about the way that things played out.
These are all super high salaries, but they all fall short of what Jack Nicholson made for one of his most famous movies.
‘Batman’ Paid Nicholson A Fortune
Back in 1989, Jack Nicholson starred as the Joker in Batman, which was a massive achievement for comic book movies at the time. The flick remains an all-time classic, and Nicholson’s performance in the film is still held in high regard. Thanks to his massive salary, the actor made a staggering amount of money per word spoken.
It has been estimated that Nicholson made just north of $166,000 per word spoken in Batman. Nicholson only spoke 585 words in the film, but his salary for Batman was bananas. Initially, he got $6 million as a base salary, but negotiating a portion of the film’s profits landed him north of $90 million, which is one of the biggest salaries in movie history. Talk about a massive win for Nicholson, who had already been making some serious dough for years by that point.
Batman is a classic, as is Jack Nicholson’s performance in the film, and the fact that he made so much money for each word spoken just adds a new layer to the project’s legacy. We’re sure that people playing villains in other comic book movies wish they could pull something like this off.