Actors whose scenes were cut from movies and TV shows, but still got a hefty salary anyway.
Shailene Woodley was paid for cut scenes for The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
The Divergent star accepted the role of Mary-Jane Watson in the movie, a romantic interest for Peter Parker. However, director Marc Webb decided to cut her scenes to streamline the film — of course, she still got paid a reported 4 million dollars.
Paul Rudd was paid for cut scenes in Bridesmaids.
Universal
Originally, the actor was meant to play Annie (Kristen Wiig)’s blind date in the movie. He did film the scene, but it ended up being cut to keep the movie streamlined; due to the Screen Actors Guild, Paul still got paid for his part (though we don’t know how much).
Harrison Ford’s role as a headteacher in ET was cut, but his paycheck seems to have gone through nonetheless.
Paramount Pictures
The actor was originally meant to be in a scene involving frogs and levitation (yes, really). But director Steven Spielberg ultimately decided “That was the scene that we cut out” — though Harrison would still be paid a hefty 3 million dollars for the role which was a lot for that time.
Raw Leiba was paid for cut scenes in Tut
Muse Entertainment Enterprises/Spike TV
Made sense at the time, strong actor, great physique, large international following Leiba was hired as King Artatama II in the miniseries Tut which aired on the then Spike TV , in that role he had to perform a very hot and sexy love scene with a Moroccan actress, however those scenes were deemed too steamy for TV and were cut from the series but Leiba still raked in a cool $1.2 million dollars for his ummmm time.
Tim Roth scenes were cut as the butler in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
The actor, who has worked pretty consistently with the film’s director Tarantino in the past, took the role of an English butler in the film. However, the film — which was three hours long after editing — needed streamlining, so Tarantino cut his scenes (and his check) for 3 million bucks.
Honorable Mention (but not quite the same thing)
Nicolas Cage was paid $20 million to play Superman in Superman Lives but never did
Tim Burton directed the movie in which Cage was set to star; Nicolas Cage seemed really excited about the role, saying, “I particularly want to say to children, ‘It’s OK to be different.’ Kids that are in class getting called weirdo, don’t feel bad because, you know, Superman’s a weirdo. He’s from outer space… I think it’ll have a lot of soul. That’s what I’m going for.” However, the film got pulled before the studio could start filming — and some say Nicolas got to keep the money thanks to a pay-or-play contract..
Paul Rudd
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748620/?ref_=ext_shr
Shailene Woodley
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940362/?ref_=ext_shr
Harrison Ford
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000148/?ref_=ext_shr_em
Tom Roth
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000619/?ref_=ext_shr
Raw Leiba
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2836170/?ref_=ext_shr
Nicholas Cage
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2836170/?ref_=ext_shr
