Actor Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has revealed he had to sell his house because he was paid so little for the films, despite the franchise becoming one of the highest-grossing series ever. Speaking to The Guardian, Astin, now national president of the actors' union SAG-AFTRA, said there was a "disconnect" between his sudden fame after the films' early-2000s release and the modest income it brought him.

Astin previously said he earned around $75,000 per film, putting his total trilogy pay at roughly $250,000, despite the films grossing $2.9 billion worldwide. Co-star Elijah Wood has similarly noted that New Line Cinema took a financial gamble filming all three instalments simultaneously, meaning the cast were not renegotiated between films and did not receive large salaries. Astin says he is now financially comfortable and, while uncast in the upcoming Hunt for Gollum and Shadow of the Past projects, insists he would "goddam right" push for better pay if he returned to the franchise.