A lot of A-listers have been a part of the epic space media franchise, Star Wars over the years. Many stars like Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill who were just rookies when they first portrayed their roles in the first Star Wars movie rose to great fame and became very successful on the back of their performance in the original trilogy of the franchise.
A lot of stars have made a lot of money with their portrayals of the fans’ beloved characters over the years. However, today we will only look at stars who have made the most money from a single appearance.
1. Harrison Ford, Star Wars: A Force Awakens
Harrison Ford is one of the most established and popular actors in the Star Wars franchise. The American actor who first portrayed the iconic role of Han Solo in the first movie of the franchise back in 1977 decided to reprise his role in Star Wars: A Force Awakens in 2015. Although it turned out to be Ford’s last movie in the franchise as his character was killed off by Kylo Ren in the end, according to Variety, the actor allegedly made somewhere between $10-$20 million for his role in the movie.
2. Daisy Ridley, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
Daisy Ridley who first portrayed her role of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens is all set to reprise her role in the upcoming movie, Star Wars: New Jedi Order. When she was first cast in the role of Rey back in 2015, the actress allegedly didn’t get paid much as she was not that popular an actress before her portrayal. However, after playing the protagonist in all three movies of the Sequel Trilogy, her fame has skyrocketed, and according to Jeff Sneider, she will be paid almost $12.5 million for her role in the upcoming movie, Star Wars: New Jedi Order.
3. Mark Hamill, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Mark Hamill who first portrayed the iconic role of Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars movie reprised his role in the A Force Awakens movie in 2015 alongside Harrison Ford but the character did not appear until the very final minutes of the film. Hamill allegedly charged a low seven-figure salary for the role in which he did not even utter a single word.
The last few minutes of A Force Awakens movie set the base of the foundation for the next movie, The Last Jedi in which Luke Skywalker plays a vital role in the plot as he mentors and trains Rey. According to Marca, Hamill was allegedly paid somewhere between $5-10 million for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the movie.
4. Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian
Pedro Pascal’s fame has skyrocketed in the last few years making him one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. The Chilean actor portrays the role of the titular character in the series. According to Bola VIP, the actor made almost $400,000-$500,000 per episode for season 3 of the series which results in a total of almost $3.2-$4 million for just the latest season of The Mandalorian.
Pascal once even revealed that it is one of the more challenging roles that he has had to do in his career as it is quite challenging to express his emotions with just his words as his character almost always wears a mask.
5. Carrie Fisher, Star Wars: A Force Awakens
The American actress who first portrayed the iconic role of Princess Leia in the first movie of the original trilogy went on to reprise her role again in the A Force Awakens movie in 2015 alongside Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill. According to Variety, Fisher also received a low seven-figure salary for her portrayal of General Leia Organa. Unfortunately, that was the last Star Wars movie that Fisher ever saw herself in as she passed away in 2016.
Although that might have been the end for Carrie Fisher, that was indeed not the end of her character Princess Leia Organa. We saw more scenes of General Organa in the movie The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker in which the studio made use of some unused shots from The Force Awakens.
All the movies and series of the Star Wars franchise are currently streaming on Disney+.
