Barkhad Abdi is broke

Drag Race is casting now for season 7. He could win $100K.

Feel bad for the guy. He's a pretty talented actor, but he has a VERY distinct look that is going to make him stand out in any role he's cast in. No one's going to hire him as the friend or guy next door. I know they've been giving him per diem vouchers while he's been doing promo, but I wonder if Sony also considered giving him a small bonus given that the film has earned more nearly $220 million worldwide. If nothing more, than to give themselves good publicity.

I believe the number. Jonah Hill has gone on record as saying that he wanted to be in Wolf of Wall Street so bad that he only got $60K for the film.

I also wonder how Abdi will do in the future, although Gabourey Sidibe, someone else I wondered about, has done pretty well for herself, so he might, too. I hope he does.

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Updated On: 3/5/14 at 07:30 AM

That's correct, mikem. But there is precedent for that and he most likely has a special arrangement with the company to have a large share of the net profit in place of any sizable salary.

Leonardo DiCaprio usually gets around $20 million a film, but took a massive pay cut in 2011 to do "Inception." Instead of a large salary he split the first-dollar gross points, so he was receiving money directly off the top of box office sales (after his feeble advance was paid off). He ended up making over $50 million with that arrangement...

Nobody makes millions or even hundreds of thousands in their first film, unless they are already an established celebrity. Otherwise, it's usually SAG minimum or not much above.

The only people who make a huge salary are those who have already carried (meaning played the main character) in a hit film, and usually more than once. They are bankable stars. You don't get big bucks for your first time out even if the movie becomes a blockbuster.

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It is astonishing when you think about how much $$ goes in and out of Hollywood.

I heard Sandy took a lower salary in lieu of much higher backend payments, so that doesn't surprise me at all. It was risky to make a sci-fi film with essentially two people in it. So she went for the risk ... and it kinda paid off just a little bit.

By the way, I think Jennifer Hudson's salary for Dreamgirls was around $150,000. Nobody got big bucks in that film, even Eddie Murphy and Beyonce and Jamie Foxx took pay cuts.

But they all got soundtrack sales money and residuals, and I don't know if there was any "backend" money worked into it or not. The film did modestly well, but musicals are considered high risk, so I don't think anybody makes big money up front. The cast of Into the Woods is certainly not making big salaries (although Meryl and Johnny Depp and maybe a few others have back-end deals).

EDIT: Well, $20 million isn't exactly a "lower salary up front," if she really did earn that. On the other hand, she IS the movie as far as cast, so maybe she got a big salary AND a big back-end deal. I heard she took a cut, though. Is $20 million a "cut???"

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Updated On: 3/5/14 at 07:59 AM

I would love to see him get a meaty role with nuance and complexity.

But this being Hollywood if he wants a career he'd better get used to being cast as the evil terrorist bad guy.

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If he's a good actor as you guys have said (I didn't see the film), I actually think there could be more work for him. He's a very interesting and unique character and once in a while roles pop up for a unique character look as his is.

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I don't think he has to play a pirate, or even a bad guy, but the accent and the distinct look definitely say Somalia.

I'm sure if any future projects featuring Somalia are filmed (which is likely, actually, based on their tumultuous history), he will be first in line for a good role.

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Perhaps they'll make the book, Deadly Waters by Jay Bahadur into a movie. Abdi should push that to some of his movie buddies. "Hello Mr. Hanks have I got a book for you!"

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Reminds me of Haing S. Ngor from The Killing Fields. He was able to find work in television and film, but nothing very substantial or steady, subsequent to his Oscar nomination until his death 12 years later.

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