An acting contract is an agreement between at least two parties legally enforceable if the deal is broken. Generally, these contracts make sure both the actor and the production company comply with the document’s terms. As such, actors are often advised to check the document thoroughly before signing to avoid bad contract terms.
While most actors are usually fine with the pre-determined contract terms, things get interesting when you consider the terms that famous actors frequently include in their movie contracts. The real kicker is, these new demands sometimes don’t even benefit the actors themselves. While some of the demands do sound like a tall order, for the most part, they’re odd enough that they don’t ever come to your mind.
For this list, we will look at 8 actors whose contract terms are truly rare and outlandish. You will even find some household names in this list, we’re just saying.
#1 Dolph Lundgren
Source: EVERETT COLLECTION
As He-Man, Lundgren had three chances to nail his voice acting. Just three chances is not enough, obviously, and He-Man was later dubbed by a different person.
#2 Garry Marshall (Right)
Source: EVERETT COLLECTION
Héctor Elizondo was a close friend of Garry. One of Garry’s contract clauses demanded that his friend be featured in all of his projects. And Elizondo did not know about this clause up until the director’s death in 2016.
#3 Julianna Margulies
Source: JEFF NEUMANN/CBS/GETTY IMAGES.
Julianna’s term was expensive: a $10.000 wig, exclusively for the role of Alicia Florrick in The Good Wife. The TV series was successful, so in the end the costly wig was worth it.
#4 Queen Latifah
Source: EVERETT COLLECTION
Queen Latifah had enough of dying on-screen, so she came up with an idea: a contract clause preventing her character’s death. This way, she could appear in sequels, although she can still play characters who will eventually be disposed of, at the right price that is.
#5 Roger Moore
Source: GRAHAM STARK/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
Roger Moore was responsible for playing Bond during the 1970s and 1980s. He even requested an unlimited supply of Montecristo cigars to get into the 007 spirit.
#6 Samuel L. Jackson
Source: SCREEN GEMS/EVERETT COLLECTION.
Samuel loved golfing. So much so that he demanded to be able to play twice a week whenever he is in production.
#7 Steve McQueen (Right)
Source: ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES
Back in the 1970s, there was a rivalry between Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. The Towering Inferno (1974) featured both actors, and for that movie, McQueen demanded two things: top billing for himself and the same number of lines for both actors.
#8 Uma Thurman
Source: MIRAMAX/EVERETT COLLECTION.
Thurman had very wild demands during production of the unfinished Eloise in Paris (2010). She wanted to buy clothes and wigs at a reduced rate, have three cell phones, and a dressing room matched by no one else in the production crew.
