George Clooney says Arnold Schwarzenegger was paid 'like 20 times more' than he was for 1997's Batman & Robin
George Clooney says Arnold Schwarzenegger was paid 'like 20 times more' than he was for 1997's Batman & Robin, in which he played Batman and Schwarzenegger played Mr. Freeze.
The Oscar-winner, 58, opened up about the pay disparity between he and the action hero while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter's podcast Awards Chatter Monday, as he opened up about the downside of playing the Caped Crusader.
'Schwarzenegger was paid, I think, $25 million for that,' said Clooney, 'which was like 20 times more than I was paid for it.'
Pay freeze: George Clooney, 58, says Arnold Schwarzenegger, 71, was paid 'like 20 times more' than he was for 1997's Batman & Robin, in which he played Batman and Schwarzenegger played Mr. Freeze
At the time, Clooney was on the upswing as one of TV's top names on the NBC hit ER, and had headlined two 1996 films: Quentin Tarantino's From Dusk Till Dawn, and the romantic comedy One Fine Day; Schwarzenegger was already one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, with smash hits under his belt including The Terminator, T2 and True Lies.
The film saw Clooney take over the titular role from Val Kilmer, who played Batman in 1995's Batman Forever; it debuted in June of 1997 to a lukewarm reception from critics, taking in $238 million worldwide off a budget of $125 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
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Clooney recalled that he and Schwarzenegger 'worked together one day ... but [he] took all the heat,' as the leading man, for the lackluster reception of the motion picture.
'Now, fair deal; I was playing Batman and I wasn't good in it, and it wasn't a good film, but what I learned from that failure was, I had to rethink how I was working,' the A-list actor said of the role, which he did concurrent to ER. 'Because now I wasn't just an actor getting a role, I was being held responsible for the film itself.'
Leading man: Clooney played the role of Batman in the 1997 film to tepid reviews
Eye on the prize: Schwarzenegger was already one of Hollywood's most bankable stars when he agreed to play the villainous role in the movie for big bucks
Sidekick: Chris O'Donnell played Robin to Clooney's Batman in the summer action film
Clooney opened up about the disparity in pay and blame as he recalled advising Ben Affleck not to take the role of Batman while working on the movie Argo. (Affleck went on to play Batman in three films, most notably 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.)
'I actually did talk to him about it,' Clooney said. 'I said, "Don't do it." It was only from my experience. He did great, though.'
The father-of-two, to one-year-old twins Alexander and Ella with wife Amal, has been on the promotional trail as of late for his new miniseries Catch-22, based on the 1961 Joseph Heller novel.
Catch-22 is set to debut on Hulu May 22.
