Josh Brolin is an amazing actor who gained wider recognition for playing the role of the antagonist Thanos in Marvel Cinematic Universe, including in the films Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as Cable in Deadpool 2 (2018).
His character’s line “You Should Have Gone For The Head” has not just become famous but also become an iconic quote in the entire MCU.
Brolin was paid big bucks for his role as Thanos. After all, he was the movie’s main star. Even though it was a higher fortune paid than any other MCU superstar in Avengers: Infinity War, it is still less than what was paid to Tom Hiddleston (only for less than 4 minutes of screen time).
Josh Brolin Earned Less Than Tom Hiddleston, Who Had Only 3:15 Minutes of Screen Time in Avengers: Infinity War
An IMDb user named ninewheels0 calculated the screen time for each character in the Avengers: Infinity War. Josh Brolin‘s (for playing the antagonist, Thanos) had the most screen time at 29 minutes. Whereas, Tom Hiddleston‘s character’s screentime was even less than 4 minutes — 3:15 accurately.
Now, compared to the salary paid to the actors for their roles in the movie, Hiddleston has earned more than the movie’s main star, Brolin.
The High-Rise star was reportedly paid around $8 million to play the God of Mischief in Infinity War. Given his limited screen time in the film, this made him one of the highest-paid actors per minute of on-screen time.
Whereas Brolin was reportedly paid (as per The Things) $5-6 million to star as Thanos in the movie, which makes it much less than what was being paid to Hiddleston (in terms of per minute on-screen time).
Why was Tom Hiddleston Paid Higher Only for His 3:15 Minutes of Screen Time in Avengers: Infinity War?
Unlike some of Brolin’s co-stars with more prominent roles in the MCU, his role as Thanos was relatively minor at the time.
This meant that Marvel had more flexibility in casting the character, and Brolin didn’t have as much bargaining power as some of his fellow actors. So maybe that’s the reason he settled for less.
Of course, he was paid a decent amount of money for his role, but stars like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson were paid even more. However, these actors have contributed a lot to building the MCU into the most successful film franchise, and it makes sense.
It goes the same for the case of Hiddleston. Actors who can engage the audience tend to earn more, and Mr. Hiddleston has that ability. As a core member of the MCU, he got paid based on what the top actors do.
