Similar to getting a healthy paycheck, some actors will just want to do something " their kids can watch", the kind of roles most actors seek usually being dark and not appropriate for minors.Ī common theme - especially among older actors and actresses - stems from growing up during hard economic conditions, either from a poor economy as a whole or from family hardships. Note that this also applies to star in big US television shows with multi-million dollar deals commonplace, it can allow you to be a lot more choosy for the next few years. This is also the reason for the percentage of high-quality foreign artists appearing in crummy American films: Hollywood, even at its most cheapskate, tends to pay much better than any other film industry in the world. Thus, they're likely to elicit more respect from the audience if they Took the Bad Film Seriously or end up Chewing the Scenery with Ham and Cheese than if they took the money but made it clear through their performance that they couldn't care less for anything but the paycheck. As a result, rather paradoxically, an artist who takes the job for the money is perhaps best trying to put in a decent (or at least entertaining) performance even in a movie that doesn't match up to their standards. However, should a cash-in movie end up So Bad, It's Horrible, both the audience and the critics are likely to be notably less forgiving than they would be while judging a bad movie with original, artistic premise marred by flawed execution. People in creative jobs need an income the same as anyone else, and in fact, many of the greatest popcorn flicks of all time are great primarily because the studio shelled out the money to get actors and directors who would rather be doing something else, but who were still prepared to give the audience a good performance. If it ends up a mediocre, run of the mill production, that's also excusable. And just because an actor or director only took a movie for money doesn't mean they'll necessarily dislike the end result. Even if it is for the money, the level can be kept high and professional and they can turn out something great (like the example with Coppola and The Godfather). To be clear, however, there is no shame at all for doing a movie for the money, and if the movie happens to be a great one, artistically or popularly, all the better. Some artists, however, can turn this to their advantage a common reason cited by many successful artists who engage in this trope is that a high-paying job that doesn't greatly interest them means that they have more money to put into funding and appearing in lower-budget but more creatively appealing ones. Still, if you do too many of these, you run the risk of having a rather strange IMDb record and irrevocably ruining your reputation as a creative thespian: so much potential and talent wasted. Most actors have been seen sliding down the perceived hierarchy of the entertainment field, with the most common "step down" is for actors who primarily work in film suddenly "slumming it" by taking roles on television. On a cynical note, in the state that America is in today, you shouldn't be surprised to see this more often. And furthermore, most creative professions are overcrowded for every wealthy and successful artist who can afford to sniff at jobs that are 'beneath' them, there are ten or more underworked ones who would kill for a chance at the income. ![]() After all, acting is a volatile profession, as many starving artists can attest, and financial security for you and your family is nothing to turn from: It's not so much selling out, as selling well. And it's hard to argue with the fact that, when offered buckets and buckets of cash for three weeks of shooting, anyone would be a fool not to take it. ![]() Obviously, movies are big business, and the right name at the top of the poster can be the difference between a hit and a flop. Unlike the Classically Trained Extras, who lament that their talent is being wasted, or the small but legitimate roles of the One-Scene Wonder, or the Old Shame of roles taken when it was the only work available, this trope covers actors who are completely fine with the situation. Sometimes, undeniably famous, classical actors and actresses (or even loveable, talented, squeaky-clean child and/or teen actors/actresses) take roles in movies that are very against their type. Laurence Olivier, on his role in Inchon (full quote here)
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