John Malkovich is set to make his Marvel debut as a mystery character in this summer’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” but it wasn’t the first Marvel role the Oscar nominee has been offered over the years. The actor revealed an interview with GQ magazine that he’s turned down a few Marvel offers in the past because the pay just wasn’t sufficient enough.
“The reason I didn’t do them had nothing to do with any artistic considerations whatsoever,” Malkovich said. “I didn’t like the deals they made, at all. These films are quite grueling to make… If you’re going to hang from a crane in front of a green screen for six months, pay me. You don’t want to pay me, it’s cool, but then I don’t want to do it, because I’d rather be onstage, or be directing a play, or doing something else.”
What Malkovich was surprised to discover was that filming “The Fantastic Four” was “not that dissimilar to doing theater” because “you imagine a bunch of stuff that isn’t there and do your little play.” He told GQ that he took a role in the movie primarily because he wanted to work with director Matt Shaman again after 2014’s “Cut Bank.”
I have tremendous respect for John Malkovich, and I’ll continue to be a fan of his work, but I don’t like how it sounds when a multimillionaire says “pay me”. I don’t mean that he should accept bad deals, I just mean it’s a bad look.
Knowing your value isn't a bad look.
True. I’m just bugged by his use of “pay me”, which I’ve only ever heard in the context of working people who are struggling to pay their bills.
It's no different, though - literally the same exact sentiment. If you want my labor: fuck you, pay me.