7 Actors Who Donated Their Entire Movie Salary To A Good Cause

Find out why these actors gave up their salary…

In 2008, Beyoncé was paid $4 million to star in Cadillac Records as a young Etta James -- but she reportedly didn’t keep any of her salary. Beyoncé donated the entirety of her salary to the Phoenix House, a drug treatment center that helps over 5,000 recovering addicts every day. While preparing for the role, Bey had spent time at one of their rehab facilities to learn more about Etta, who had stayed at a similar center to treat her heroin addiction in the 1970s.

Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, later shared that part of her daughter’s donation was put towards opening a cosmetology school for people from Phoenix House who wanted to learn a life skill that could help them get back on their feet.

“My mother and I believe that anyone can succeed with a little help,” Beyoncé shared. “The center can help these women and men to achieve their goals, to be independent, self-fulfilled, and ultimately help in their recovery process.”

After filming his 2013 movie Gimme Shelter, Brendan Fraser reportedly donated his entire salary to Several Sources Shelters -- and his co-star, James Earl Jones, did the same. The film was based on a real-life pregnant teenager who had lived at one of the shelters. Director Ron Krauss says he was shocked that Brendan and James even wanted to be in the film.

“I was taken aback because he was a big actor, and I didn’t really expect to have big actors in this movie,” he told National Review. “It really had an authentic cast, whose motivation was not about money, but about getting an authentic message out.”

In 2023, Anna Kendrick was just weeks away from the premiere of her film Woman of the Hour when she realized that she didn’t want to keep any money made from the movie. The film, based on the life of serial killer Rodney Alcaca, chronicled his numerous murders as well as the moment during his killing spree when he infamously appeared on The Dating Game. Anna decided she felt “gross” keeping the money and decided to donate it to RAINN and to the National Center for Victims of Violent Crime.

“This was never a money-making venture for me. Eventually, Netflix bought the movie. But it wasn’t until, like, the week before Toronto International Film Festival that I thought, ‘Oh, the movie’s gonna make money,’” Anna shared on the Crime Junkie AF podcast. “I asked myself the question of, ‘Do you feel gross about this?’ And I did.”

After working on A Rainy Day in New York, Timothée Chalamet and his co-stars had to reconsider their decision to work with director Woody Allen, who was facing abuse allegations at the time. While Timothée couldn’t share his exact thoughts on the matter because of contractual obligations, Timothée ended up deciding that he didn’t want to profit from the film. He donated his salary to TIME’S UP, The LGBT Center in New York, and RAINN.

“This year has changed the way I see and feel about so many things; it has been a thrilling and, at times, enlightening education. I have, to this point, chosen projects from the perspective of a young actor trying to walk in the footsteps of more seasoned actors I admire,” Timothée wrote on Instagram. “But I am learning that a good role isn't the only criteria for accepting a job – that has become much clearer to me in the past few months, having witnessed the birth of a powerful movement intent on ending injustice, inequality and above all, silence.”

He continued, “I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with brave artists who are fighting for all people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.”

Heath Ledger was in the middle of filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus when he died of an accidental overdose. As the movie was only halfway complete, the team behind the film scrambled to figure out what to do. In the end, Heath’s friends Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp and Jude Law all stood in for Heath -- and donated all the money to his daughter Matilda.

“They came; they did the work; they allowed the movie to be finished; they didn’t take money -- the money goes to Heath’s daughter. That’s extraordinary! And wonderful…and when you're part of that, you think, ‘Ah, this is maybe why I went into the movies, in the beginning. I thought it would be full of wonderful people.’ And in our case, we’ve got a movie full of wonderful people, who did extraordinary things to help,” director Terry Gilliam shared.

In 2021, Michael Sheen shared that he had recently decided to become a “not-for-profit” actor and wanted to donate any of his extra earnings to fund social projects. He made the choice after donating a large amount of money to fund the Homeless World Cup -- and realized it was something he could be doing all the time.

“I’ve essentially turned myself into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor…I’ve realized in the last few years that I want to be one of those people who help other people the way so many people helped me. I don’t want to just be someone who enjoys the fruits of what other people have done and then pull the drawbridge up,” Michael said in an interview with Big Issue.

Al Pacino’s 1980 film Cruising, which was about a serial killer who targeted gay men in Manhattan, faced a lot of backlash from the LGBTQ+ community when it was released. At the time, he allegedly received death threats, but it wasn’t until after filming wrapped that he realized that it was “an exploitative film.” He said he ended up quietly donating his salary to charities.

“When I said yes to it, I thought it was going to be a murder-mystery thriller with some edge to it, I was not as sensitive as I could have been about the stigmatization of the gay community and how this material depicted them,” Al wrote in Sonny Boy: A Memoir.

He continued, “I took the money and it was a lot, and I put it in an irrevocable trust fund, meaning once I gave it, there was no taking it back. I gave it to charities, and with the interest, it was able to last a couple of decades…It was always donated anonymously because I didn't want to make it a PR stunt -- I just wanted one positive thing to come out of that whole experience.”