History Main / MoneyDearBoy

* Creator/JohnGielgud: [[UsefulNotes/TheEGOTs Emmy winner. Grammy winner. Oscar winner. Tony winner]]. Acclaimed actor and director. Knight of the realm. Connoisseur of [[https://youtu.be/bhZv8aIr55k fine champagne]]. By one account, he was paid one million dollars for a single day's work.

* Wrestling/MollyHolly was WWE's resident Diva ButtMonkey (largely due to her unwillingness to be MsFanservice like the other women they had) but she ended up staying in WWE because it was good money. After a breast cancer scare in 2005, she realized how unhappy she really was there and when WWE refused to let her do the one thing that would have made it bearable for her (a HeelFaceTurn, as she never liked being a heel and had wanted to be a good role model) she asked for her release and retired from wrestling. She's now working for WWE as an agent/producer and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021, and even made a (''very'' brief) return to the ring in the 2022 ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble''.

* By own admission, this[[note]]Along with getting to play a FakeAmerican[[/note]] is why Creator/ImeldaStaunton turns up in 2006 Creator/StevenSeagal straight-to-DVD movie ''Shadow Man''.

* Creator/RichardRoundtree appeared in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' for the money.

This is also the reason for the percentage of high-quality foreign artists appearing in American film and TV productions of varying quality: Hollywood, even at its most cheapskate, tends to pay much better than any other film industry in the world. Note that this also applies to star in big US television shows; with multi-million dollar deals and syndication checks (for shows that last long enough) commonplace, it can allow you to be a lot more choosy for the next few years.

** Later in his career, Harris often appeared in second-rate films such as ''Film/TarzanTheApeMan'' and ''Film/StrikeCommandoII''.

This is also the reason for the percentage of high-quality foreign artists appearing in crummy American films: Hollywood, even at its most cheapskate, tends to pay much better than any other film industry in the world. Note that this also applies to star in big US television shows; with multi-million dollar deals and syndication checks (for shows that last long enough) commonplace, it can allow you to be a lot more choosy for the next few years.

This is also the reason for the percentage of high-quality foreign artists appearing in crummy American films: Hollywood, even at its most cheapskate, tends to pay much better than any other film industry in the world. Note that this also applies to star in big US television shows; with multi-million dollar deals commonplace, it can allow you to be a lot more choosy for the next few years.

* The reason why Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and especially Bret Hart left Wrestling/{{WWE}} and came to Wrestling/{{WCW}}, since Vince [=McMahon=] couldn't compete with Ted Turner's million dollar contracts. Kevin Nash has stated in the past year in interviews on ''[[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] [=iMPACT=]!'' that he was only in TNA for the money. After he went back to WWE, Nash admitted that he signed with WCW for similar reasons: a guaranteed contract with creative control and a sweet clause in his contract that allowed him to be paid the same amount of money as the highest-paid guy in the promotion[[note]]From an interview: "Say you're a guy working the drive-thru at Burger King and the fast food joint across the street will double your take home and you'll have to only work half as many shifts, what would you do? I mean, yeah, it's Hardee's, but fuck it!". Though Nash would state that WCW's fully guaranteed contract (as opposed to Vince's UsefulNotes/HollywoodAccounting like calculation of payoffs where you never knew how big that check was gonna be until you cashed it) was the main reason he jumped ship[[/note]]. To sum up his mindset, he once said in an interview "It's funny, they all call it 'the business', but the second you start treating it like a business you're the bad guy."

** Of course, the main reason he signed onto ''Potter'' in the first place was that he hadn't done a film in over a year and desperately needed the money.

* Starting in the late twenty-teens and early twenty-twenties, high profile college football players began skipping bowl games to prepare for entry into the NFL Draft. This was exacerbated by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, where many players opted out of that season entirely. This draws ire from pundits (many of who are former players who embrace the "old school" mentality) for letting the team down for a big NFL payday. With huge paydays lingering, there is little motivation other than pride for a top-ranked NFL prospect to play in meaningless bowl games that aren't part of the College Football Playoff.

* When asked why he appears as a guest on so many other artists' music, Music/SnoopDogg replied that he'll say yes to almost anything as long as he gets paid up front.

Obviously, movies are big business, and the right name at the top of the poster can be the difference between a hit and a flop. And it's hard to argue with the fact that, when offered buckets and buckets of cash for three weeks of shooting, anyone would be a fool not to take it. After all, acting is a volatile profession, as many starving artists can attest, and financial security for you and your family is nothing to turn from: It's not so much selling out, as selling ''well''. And furthermore, most creative professions are overcrowded; for every wealthy and successful artist who can afford to sniff at jobs that are 'beneath' them, there are ten or more underworked ones who would kill for a chance at the income. On a cynical note, in the state that America is in today, you shouldn't be surprised to see this more often. Most actors have been seen sliding down the perceived hierarchy of the entertainment field, with the most common "step down" is for actors who primarily work in film suddenly "slumming it" by taking roles on television.

Still, if you do too many of these, you run the risk of having a rather strange Website/IMDb record and irrevocably ruining your reputation as a creative thespian: so much potential and talent wasted. Some artists, however, can turn this to their advantage; a common reason cited by many successful artists who engage in this trope is that a high-paying job that doesn't greatly interest them means that they have more money to put into [[OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt funding and appearing]] in lower-budget but more creatively appealing ones.

To be clear, however, there is no shame at all for doing a movie for the money, and if the movie happens to be a great one, artistically or popularly, all the better. Even if it is for the money, the level can be kept high and professional and they can turn out something great (like the example with Coppola and ''Film/TheGodfather''). And just because an actor or director only took a movie for money doesn't mean they'll necessarily dislike the end result. Therefore, not all examples of this trope are supposed to mean that an actor sold out. They could have had a very good reason to accept a role for monetary reasons, such as needing the money to pay, for example, hospital bills.

If it ends up a mediocre, run of the mill production, that's also excusable. People in creative jobs need an income the same as anyone else, and in fact, many of the greatest popcorn flicks of all time are great primarily because the studio shelled out the money to get actors and directors who would rather be doing something else, but who were still prepared to give the audience a good performance.

A common theme -- especially among older actors and actresses -- stems from growing up during hard economic conditions, either from a poor economy as a whole or from family hardships. The fear that "The Next Job" may not come, as it often failed to do for their family, drives them to take roles they might not otherwise be interested in. And, again, they're not exaggerating: any actor, young and old, always deals with extremely uneven income flow with absolutely no hard guarantees for the future.

There's also the common practice of recognizable actors turning up in indie films of varying quality "for scale". The term "for scale" means the minimum daily rate for actors guaranteed by the Screen Actors Guild, thus the opposite of this trope. When more notable actors do this, it's usually because they wanted to establish themself in a dramatic role (like the example with Creator/DakotaFanning and ''Film/{{Hounddog}}'', where her character infamously ''got raped''). This doesn't stop them from becoming controversial among people, though. As a general rule, if a recognizable name turns up in a movie featured on [=MST3K=] or [=RiffTrax=] or a "pretentious" low-budget indie film, or has a UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward nomination for one of their films listed in their "Accolades" section on Wikipedia, this trope is almost certainly why.

* Filipino actor Creator/VicSotto was unapologetic about ''Film/MyLittleBossings[='=]'' ChristmasRushed, MerchandiseDriven production, saying he did make his audiences happy and what mattered was it sold well. As if making money was all the UsefulNotes/MetroManilaFilmFestival would give a damn about, much to the umbrage of filmmakers who viewed the event as having degenerated into a dumping ground of films of questionable merit for [[ViewersAreMorons masses who don't seem to care]].

** In 2016, an expansion team was granted to UsefulNotes/LasVegas, an area untapped by major leagues, instead of Quebec City due to the huge fee that would be shared with the 30 other teams. While Quebec City is a traditional hockey market, the crowded area and Canadian dollar uncertainties that already drove the previous team away in 1995 made granting a franchise for a expansion team there somehow riskier; also, a Quebec expansion team would likely require an existing team in the Eastern Conference to move west, which is why UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} got the 32nd slot, which required simply moving one team in the Pacific Division to the Central.

* After the media circus surrounding the domestic dispute between him and his wife, John Wayne Bobbit began partaking in numerous side ventures to pay off his legal and medical fees, often involving a large amount of AdamWesting. He formed a band called The Private Parts, acted in two porn films, and even made an appearance on ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw WWF Raw is War]]'' as part of a feud between Wrestling/ValVenis and [[Wrestling/TakaMichinoku Kaientai]] (wherein he helped save Venis from having his own privates severed by Mr. Yamaguchi).

* [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball Footballer]] Winston Bogarde became notorious in England for staying at Chelsea despite going over three years without playing for them. Why didn't he move elsewhere? Because Chelsea were paying him ''£40,000 a week'', which was a huge amount back then, especially for a defender. Bogarde knew no-one else would pay him those sorts of wages, and wanted to spite Chelsea for not paying him, so he stuck around for the remainder of his contract.

* In the 2014 [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup World Cup]], three African teams showed they considered their pay as important as victories: Cameroon delayed their trip because they wanted to get paid before, and while in Brazil one of the players admitted he's OnlyInItForTheMoney; Ghana threatened to strike during the tournament, only shutting up once a jet filled with cash arrived; and Nigeria also complained with their managers about the prize money.

* Any time you see a small, lesser-known team playing a powerhouse in UsefulNotes/CollegeFootball. Bigger programs pay smaller teams to be a punching bag for 60 minutes and sell tickets while the smaller team often gets more money for a single weekend than their program would for the entire season. Sometimes it backfires, though: ask any [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballPower5Conferences Univsersity of Michigan]] fan about the 2007 [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballConferences Appalachian State]] game [[note]]The Mountaineers upset the highly-ranked Wolverines 34-32[[/note]] or any University of North Texas fan about the Portland State game. [[note]]Portland State won [[CurbStompBattle 66-7]] with the Mean Green only scoring in the final minute. The loss was so humiliating that UNT immediately fired its head coach.[[/note]]

* Any time you see a small, lesser-known team playing a powerhouse in college football. Bigger programs pay smaller teams to be a punching bag for 60 minutes and sell tickets while the smaller team often gets more money for a single weekend than their program would for the entire season. Sometimes it backfires, though: ask any UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan fan about the 2007 Appalachian State game [[note]]Appalachian State upset the highly-ranked Wolverines 34-32[[/note]] or any University of North Texas fan about the Portland State game. [[note]]Portland State won [[CurbStompBattle 66-7]] with the Mean Green only scoring in the final minute. The loss was so humiliating that UNT immediately fired its head coach.[[/note]]

* Creator/DonSiegel once said of his work that "Most of my pictures, I'm sorry to say, are about nothing. Because I'm a whore. I work for money. It's the American way."

* For Randal Kleiser, ''Film/{{Grease}}'' was this. He needed the money to finance a screen adaptation of ''Literature/TheBlueLagoon'', and after doing several made-for-TV feature films, Kleiser agreed with Creator/{{Paramount}} and Robert Stigwood to direct the film.
* Creator/EdWood hated that he spent the last few years of his life directing pornography, but by that point he'd exhausted all the funding and connections he had, and needed to do ''something'' to keep his lights on. Sadly, even ''that'' wasn't enough, no thanks to his severe alcoholism; three days before he died, he and his wife were evicted from their apartment due to non-payment of rent.

* Creator/PierreArditi, being rather left-leaning politically and against a number of practices in the banking system, was once asked why he starred in commercials... for banks, and he replied that it's his job to act, and that it paid quite well.

* Practically any film that the Creator/MarxBrothers accepted to make together after ''Film/ADayAtTheRaces'' was made to raise money to cover for Chico Marx's recurring debts and expenses. This is especially true of their final film, ''Love Happy'', which was not originally planned to include Groucho and Chico.

* Creator/MichaelSheen has made a serviceable career of juicy dramatic roles, including playing Tony Blair several times on the small screen and the big screen, plus solid hits like ''The Damned United'', ''Film/FrostNixon'' and ''Film/MidnightInParis''. On the other hand, he's ChewingTheScenery in glorified bit parts from films such as ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', ''Film/TronLegacy'' and ''Film/Underworld2003''. There's no reason why he would be doing this unless he wanted a paycheck so that the filmmakers could capitalize on his star power. In the case of ''Tron'', he said he chose the role because [[AwesomeDearBoy he loves science fiction and enjoyed making it]], and in the case of the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' movies, [[SoMyKidsCanWatch he did it for his daughter]].

* Arab-American comedian and actor Ahmed Ahmed has a [[https://youtu.be/eA2-mxsMUtw stand-up bit]] where he talks about getting offered the role of Terrorist #4 in a Hollywood movie (after [[SpringtimeForHitler attempting to troll the audition]] by playing the role as mockingly over-the-top as possible). Ahmed describes that his first reaction was to reject the role on principle because every time an ethnic actor takes a stereotypical role, it just perpetuates the problem... until his agent informed him that he would be paid $30,000 for a week of work, at which point he [[EveryManHasHisPrice promptly signed on.]]