Besides Tom Cruise, actor Ving Rhames is the only actor to have appeared in all the Mission Impossible films. The Con Air star is one of the most popular characters in the franchise, playing the beloved hacker Luther Stickell in the action film franchise. Rhames provides a much-needed God-like rescue in the films when things go awry.
The fourth franchise film saw Ving Rhames’ Luther appear near the film’s end in a small glimpse. The appearance barely lasts a minute but the actor seems to have gotten a great deal for the short work day. In fact, his salary for the film was so huge that it trumped the per-minute salary that series lead Tom Cruise earned for the film.
Ving Rhames In The Mission Impossible Franchise
Starting his career on stage and being an alumnus of the Julliard School of Drama, Ving Rhames is best known for his role as Marcellus Wallace in Quentin Tarantino’s landmark film Pulpua Fiction, which starred stalwarts such as Samuel L Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman.
He made his debut in the Mission Impossible franchise in the first film, where he was introduced as Luther Stickell, the IMF’s trusted hacker, who was disavowed. He joins Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt after he too has been disavowed by the organization, in taking down the mole that has put the blame on him.
Rhames first portrays Stickell as a soft-spoken and professional worker who then gradually gets closer to Tom Cruise’s Ethan through the course of the seven films, making personal remarks and sarcastic comments. He has a larger role in six of the films in the franchise and only has a short cameo at the end of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Rhames is the only actor to have appeared in all seven films apart from Tom Cruise. The character has met Ethan Hunt’s other teammates such as Simon Pegg’s Benji and Jeremy Renner’s William Brandt in the films.
Ving Rhames Was Paid In Millions For His Brief Role In Mission Impossible 4
As mentioned, Ving Rhames only appeared in a brief cameo in the fourth film of the franchise Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The actor’s appearance reportedly did not even last a minute in screentime and he did not participate in any of the action set pieces in the film, with Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn doing all the heavy technical work.
It was reported that Rhames was unsure about his appearance in the film as he had asked for a $7.7 million payday, which was under consideration by the studio. The film was budgeted at $145 million and Rhames mentioned in an interview with MovieWeb that the ball was in their park as he was paid only $3.5 million for MI 3. He said,
“I may be doing something very small in Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol but I will just say that the budget changed dramatically and I’ll leave it at that.”
He also mentioned that money would create the opportunity for him to appear in the film, even in a brief cameo. Well, it looks like he got his demand as he appeared in a brief cameo in the fourth film. Seeing that he appeared only for a short while in the action film, he seems to have earned $7.7 million just for barely a minute of screen time.
Lead star Tom Cruise himself was paid a $12 million upfront salary for the 133-minute-long film, earning him over $90,000 per minute. Even if Cruise’s total pay after the box office profits are considered, which was a whopping $70 million i.e. $526,000 per minute, Ving Rhames still earns more than him in a minute of screen time.
