When Peter Jackson and New Line set out to make the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, they wanted a big name star to play Gandalf. They looked no further than Sean Connery, but they didn’t have the cash to pay him up front. Instead, they offered a backend deal like the one Jack Nicholson got to play The Joker.
Obviously, Connery refused. He said he “never got it” referring to the part. Yet now there’s a biography on Jackson by writer Brian Sibley who discovered that had Connery taken the part and signed on for the backend deal, he would have made upwards of $297 million! The single biggest payday for an actor. Holy crap!
We wonder who’s more pissed….Connery for missing this fat payday or Sir Ian McKellen for being the cheap alternative.
Check it out at Yahoo Movies>>>
