US$175.000 was Orlando Bloom’s first payment for playing Legolas. In 2019, during an interview with Howard Stern, he said that was the amount he received for the first movie in “The Lord of the Rings”. “Nothing, nothing, I have nothing. US$175.000, that’s what I have”, he said with a laugh.
The figure stands out against the saga’s enormous success, but Bloom didn’t present the role as a bad decision. He described it as “the best gift of my life” and said he would play the elf again even for half the money.
He later renegotiated his contracts for the trilogy’s subsequent films. Even so, he said he would return even for half: for Legolas, the comeback came at a discount.