Cate Blanchett says 'no one got paid anything' for Lord of the Rings

Say it isn't so, precious...

Cate Blanchett may have starred in the box office smash hit The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but, according to her, that money didn't trickle down to the cast.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Blanchett played "Plead the Fifth" and was asked about the film for which she received the biggest paycheck.

Watch the video above.

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"I think it's probably Lord of the Rings," Cohen suggested

"Are you kidding me," Blanchett said as Cohen expressed surprised. "No. No one got paid anything to do that movie."

When Cohen asked whether she "got a piece of the backend," referring to the practice of big stars getting a percentage of the ticket sales, Blanchett said no.

"That was way before any of that," she said. "No, nothing."

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Blanchett said she did the 2001 film for the chance to work with Peter Jackson, who directed The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"I wanted to work with the guy who made [1992 horror comedy film] Braindead," she said. "I mean, I basically got free sandwiches. And I got to keep my ears."

Cohen then followed up asking what Blanchett she would say she did get paid the most for if not Lord of the Rings.

"Well, women don't get paid as much as you think they do," she responded.

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The next question, Cohen starting off by listing some of Blanchett's famous male co-stars including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Russel Crow and Leonardo DiCaprio, before asking, "which male co-star was the most high maintenance to work with?"

"Oh I can't," Blanchett responded. 'I'm gonna plead the fifth."

Blanchett played royal elf Galadriel in the The Lord of the Rings franchise.

The first film grossed almost $900 million worldwide. She is currently promoting her new film, Borderlands, which is in theaters Friday.

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