Once upon a time, Brendan Fraser was the go-to guy when casting for a new hit action movie was taking place. That has not been the case for a while though, and after the actor was divorced in 2007, he found himself in a bit of a tricky financial situation.
Things came to a head in 2013, when he was forced to petition the court to reduce the yearly spousal support payments he was making to his ex-wife. They stood at $900,000 and he claimed that he did not have enough income to afford them.
Nicolas Cage
Looking back at the 1990s, it sometimes seems like Nicolas Cage starred in every single movie in that entire decade. That must have brought in a hefty sum, right? Unfortunately, the actor loved to spend money and his tastes were both expensive and exotic. He bought rare animals, a Gulfstream jet, and even his own private island, which left him on some unsteady financial ground even without the $14 million in back taxes that he owed the IRS.
Things got even worse in 2009 when he was sued by his ex-wife for $13 million and then later that year sued by a real estate company for not returning millions that they apparently loaned to him. So, if you’re at the movie theater and find yourself wondering how such a great actor agreed to be in a not-so-great movie, he may just be trying to make some money to pay off his debts.
Tia Carrere
Tia Carrere got her first big break in the long-running soap opera, General Hospital. She then went on to star in the two Wayne’s World movies and her Hollywood success seemed to be a sure thing. Things became complicated, however, when Carrere wanted to appear on The A-Team and tried to get out of her General Hospital contract to do so.
She sued the show claiming that she was not earning enough, and lost. She was unable to get out of her contract and missed out on the chance to appear on the hit show and become a bona fide star.
Lindsay Lohan
When she was young and adorable, Lindsay Lohan starred in The Parent Trap, and the rest was Hollywood history. The audience loved her, and she transitioned into a successful teenage superstar starring in hit films like Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. As the actress grew older, she was faced with substance abuse issues and legal trouble. She began to work less and less, and her income went down significantly.
Lohan is currently in the midst of a comeback and has recently appeared on the Netflix series, Sick Note. Although it is nice that she’s working again, she is clearly making nowhere near what she used to in her acting prime.
Lena Headey
Although you obviously recognize Lena Headey from the biggest show in the world in recent years, Game of Thrones, that doesn’t mean that the actress has an enormous bank account. Headey had been an actress for many years, but her roles have not always been on hit shows, meaning that she wasn’t making the big bucks she is today.
She also went through a bad divorce and custody battle with her ex-husband, which caused her to amass tons of debt. She was even forced to sell her house and has previously considered doing reality shows just to make ends meet.