Kristen Stewart didn’t simply wager on herself. She virtually threw her pockets out the window for On the Street. On the peak of her Twilight fame, when Hollywood was throwing checks at her like confetti, Stewart signed on to a movie that paid her pennies in comparison with the blockbuster paydays she was used to. And he or she had zero regrets.
Again in 2012, Stewart starred in On the Street, a movie based mostly on Jack Kerouac’s legendary novel. The film adopted a wild cross-country journey with Stewart taking part in Marylou, alongside Garrett Hedlund’s Dean and Sam Riley’s Sal. It was the last word street journey film, full of insurrection, freedom, and all of the stressed power of Kerouac’s phrases (by way of Cheatsheet). The movie additionally boasted a stacked solid – Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, and Elisabeth Moss – nevertheless it was nonetheless an indie venture. And indie tasks don’t include Twilight-sized budgets.
On the Street hit a monetary snag, and as an alternative of strolling away or demanding a much bigger reduce, Stewart did one thing that surprised Hollywood – she slashed her wage to a stunning $200,000. For context? She had simply pocketed a whopping $25 million for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Daybreak. Which means she willingly took residence simply 1% of her earlier paycheck. The type of math that may make any accountant break into a chilly sweat.
So why take such a drastic pay reduce? For Stewart, it wasn’t concerning the cash. It was concerning the artwork. She was all in, able to commerce big-budget blockbusters for gritty, character-driven storytelling. And if that meant slicing her paycheck into indie-film-sized crumbs, so be it.
By then, Stewart had already made it clear she wasn’t simply Twilight’s Bella Swan. Certain, the vampire romance made her a worldwide famous person, however she was at all times chasing complicated, unconventional roles. She had already dabbled in indie cinema with The Runaways and Adventureland, however On the Street was one thing completely different – uncooked, unpolished, and a movie that required actors prepared to take dangers.
Whereas On the Street didn’t rake in box-office thousands and thousands, it cemented Stewart’s dedication to roles that challenged her. And it paid off in the long term. Quick ahead to 2021, and Stewart was incomes an Academy Award nomination for Spencer, proving as soon as and for all that she wasn’t only a blockbuster star; she was a severe actor. Critics raved about how she embodied Princess Diana, capturing her vulnerability, grace, and heartbreak in a method that left audiences in awe.
After all, Stewart has by no means deserted mainstream movies fully. She starred in Snow White and the Huntsman, Charlie’s Angels, and American Extremely, balancing her love for indie tasks with high-profile gigs. However the greatest irony? Whereas she as soon as slashed her personal wage to make an indie movie work, her web price at present sits at a staggering $70 million.
Most of that fortune got here from Twilight, the place she had one of many sweetest offers in Hollywood, incomes a 7.5% reduce of the franchise’s huge box-office earnings on prime of her hefty paychecks. These motion pictures could have ended years in the past, however Stewart’s profession? Nonetheless thriving. She took dangers, wager on ardour tasks, and proved that typically, taking a 99% pay reduce is the very best transfer you can also make.
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