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Throughout Daniel Day-Lewis' career, he became one of the most universally respected actors in the world. As a result, it should go without saying that the most famous people in the Hollywood system have wanted to work with Day-Lewis.
Even though Day-Lewis clearly is in high demand as an actor, the truth is that he has always been one of the pickiest movie stars. Since Day-Lewis infamously completely commits to every role he takes, it makes sense that he only stars in films that he thinks are worth that effort.
According to reports, Day-Lewis currently has an estimated $60 million fortune. Still, it would have to sting if he learned he missed out on millions by passing on a role. With that in mind, it begs an obvious question, how much money did Day-Lewis lose by turning down the Lord of the Rings trilogy?
What Roles Has Daniel Day-Lewis Turned Down?
Since the Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most successful film franchises ever, people are amazed that Daniel Day-Lewis turned down the chance to star in the series. However, as it turns out, Day-Lewis has turned down the opportunity to star in a lot of memorable movies.
According to Screen Rant, Day-Lewis was offered the chance to star in some movies that seem like extremely odd fits for him. Most notably, they claim Day-Lewis was asked to star in Batman Forever and Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows. While it seems crazy to imagine Day-Lewis as Batman, at least Daniel probably wouldn't have fought with the film's director the way Val Kilmer did.
Some of the other movies Day-Lewis could have starred in include Sid and Nancy, The Passion of the Christ, Philadelphia, The English Patient, Pulp Fiction, and Interview with the Vampire.
How Much Money Did Daniel Day-Lewis Lose By Passing On The Lord Of The Rings?
Since the Lord of the Rings books have long been beloved, there was a lot of excitement when it was announced they were being made into movies. On top of the excited fans, many actors worked hard in an attempt to be cast in the fantasy film trilogy.
During the casting process, Peter Jackson and Miramax brought up Daniel Day-Lewis as an option to play Aragorn which excited many fans online. After that, Jackson actually approached Day-Lewis about the possibility of taking the role, but Daniel wasn't interested.
As Lord of the Rings fans will already know, Viggo Mortensen ultimately brought Aragorn to life on the big screen. That said, it is fascinating to think about what Day-Lewis' version of Aragorn would have been like.
Of course, it also is fascinating to consider how much money Day-Lewis missed out on because he passed on the Lord of the Rings movies.
The first thing to consider when trying to figure out how much money Day-Lewis missed out on is that he didn't pass on LotR to take a different role. Instead, Day-Lewis just stayed home as evidenced by the fact that he didn't have any movies come out between 1997 and 2002.
While that certainly simplifies things, that doesn't mean it is easy to figure out how much money Day-Lewis lost. One reason that is hard to figure out is there are no reports about how much Mortensen was paid to portray Aragorn.
However, there are reports about how much some of the LotR trilogy's other stars were paid.
First off, according to celebritynetworth.com, Elijah Wood was only paid $250,000 for the first film in the trilogy, and he got "unsubstantial raises" for the sequels. On the other hand, celebritynetworth.com reports that Ian McKellen received $7.75 million for The Two Towers.
While there is no way to fully confirm those figures are accurate, they do give a range to consider when estimating how much money Day-Lewis would have been paid.
By the time the LorR trilogy was produced, Day-Lewis already was very famous and acclaimed. With that in mind, it seems very likely that Day-Lewis' salary offer would have been similar to what McKellen got.
All things considered, it seems likely that Day-Lewis lost out on a salary in the $10 - $20 million range. However, there is no way to definitively prove that is the case since that figure is an educated guess.
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