The late Donald Sutherland was one of the legendary actors in the industry, who saw a resurgence in his career in the 2010s with his role in The Hunger Games. Sutherland rose to prominence with his role as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H and went on to become a major presence in several classics and box office hits. Interestingly, he made a financial mistake in the negotiation of a movie role that cost his $20 million.
Sutherland was reportedly offered the choice of either taking a fixed salary or a percentage cut of profits and the actor chose the former in the film. It almost reminds fans of Matt Damon’s revelation of his worst financial mistake when he rejected the role in Avatar which offered him a percentage cut.
Donald Sutherland’s One Mistake Cost Him A $20 Million Payday
Donald Sutherland will be remembered for his nearly 200 roles in a career spanning over five decades. One of the most popular films of Sutherland in the 1970s was Animal House, directed by John Landis. The 1978 film had an ensemble cast of actors, including John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, and Thomas Hulce.
While Belushi was intended as the main actor in the film, the producers, Universal Pictures, didn’t believe that his SNL star status was enough to pull the audience to the theater. Director Landis revealed to EW in a 1998 interview that he was friends with Sutherland from his time working on the sets of Kelly’s Heroes. He added that he even used to babysit Kiefer Sutherland.
Landis immediately called Sutherland to cast him in the movie, since he had the star status that Universal wanted. However, Sutherland demanded that he be offered an upfront salary. Landis told EW:
We had Belushi, but Universal still wanted another star. Now, I had been a flunky on the set of Kelly’s Heroes in Yugoslavia, and Donald Sutherland and I had gotten very friendly. I used to babysit Kiefer. So I called Donald, and he said, ‘I’ll do it, but I’m not going to do it for scale. They have to pay me up front.’
Producer Matty Simmons wrote in his book, Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Making of Animal House, that Sutherland asked for $250,000 in remuneration. The studio was not ready to pay him that much amount and countered it with the offer of $20,000 for a day’s work plus a percentage of the film’s gross profits.
Sutherland didn’t agree to that as he reportedly told Landis, “I can’t take that offer. I just want the money. I don’t want any points in the movie.” The studio finally reached a settlement offering him $35,000 per day’s work without any percentage points. Sutherland later realized this was his biggest financial mistake.
During his appearance on the radio show, Opie and Anthony, Sutherland revealed that he was offered 2% of the film’s profits in addition to his fixed pay. While Sutherland didn’t want to know how much he lost, Landis revealed to EW, “But had he taken a profit position, he’d have made at least $20 million.” Animal House grossed a total of $141.6 million at the box office (via Stumped).
Matt Damon Revealed His Biggest Financial Mistake Costing Him $250 Million
While appearing on CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, Matt Damon revealed the one mistake he made in 2009 that cost him $250 million. Damon shared that he often depended on his instincts to choose a movie and he based his calculations mostly on the director of the film. However, it couldn’t help him when he had to turn down James Cameron’s offer to star in Avatar.
Interestingly, Damon was committed to the Bourne franchise at the time and couldn’t take up the Avatar role. According to Forbes, Damon was offered a 10% cut on the film’s box office on top of his salary. Since the film made over $2.7 billion at the box office, Damon’s total income from the film would’ve been $250 million. Damon shared with CNN:
I’m sure it’s the most money an actor ever turned down. I had a contract. I was in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie, and I would have to leave the movie early and leave them in the lurch a little bit.
Damon and Ben Affleck also made a mistake when they sold the script of Good Will Hunting for $600,000 and received the money into a joint account. Affleck revealed to Drew Barrymore on her show that they weren’t left with much money after paying their agents and taxes and went broke in six months.
Animal House is now available for streaming on Netflix.
