Does this put him in violation of his contract? Perhaps in violation of an unwritten rule (that actors in movies will promote their movies during release) and/or a gentlemen’s agreement?
On the subject of promoting movies via the talk-show circuit: Does any money change hands? When Chloe Moritz shows up on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to promote Kick-Ass 2, can she expect a check from NBC? Can NBC expect a check from the movie’s distributor?
It looks to me like this is a three-way win, and thus no money needs to change hands. Chloe get publicity by being on Fallon; Chloe’s movie gets publicity from Chloe pimping it on Fallon; and Fallon gets a good guest that people will want to see. Profit!
It would depend on how Carrey’s contract is written and how much the producers want to push it.
However, if you appear on a talk show, you get paid a minimum payment, no matter what the reason. It’s paid by the show as part of their budget and is the same for all shows (or used to be; there may be a difference for cable vs. broadcast). Years ago, it was under $300, but it’s probably more now (though not a lot more).
However, the movie producers don’t pay NBC for the appearance. Fallon gets a guest and the movie producers get publicity.
There is a standard appearance fee for people who appear as a guest on a late night talk show. It doesn’t matter if they’re promoting a movie, book, or not. Musical guests may get paid on a different scale.
Actors are expected to make appearances to plug their movies. I recall reading one actress got sued because the producers didn’t feel she lived up to that end of their bargain. So yes, Jim Carrey did screw the pooch on that. On the other hand, rules seem to be different for up and coming actors and those of Carrey’s, um, status. It could be Carrey has decided to move away from the rubberfaced clown character he’s famous for and into more serious characters. And he decided burning a bridge or two was a good idea. Chances are, that director and that production company won’t want to work with him anymore.
Yes to hotel costs. Some guests might get transportation as well, assuming they’re not coming in by private jet.
Everything is governed by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) guidelines, which are about as complex as the Taft-Hartley Act. As Chuck said, everybody who gets in front of a camera on stage (except studio audiences & street interviews and all that other froth) must be paid, usually the SAG minimum. That’s probably closer to $1000 today but I couldn’t find that specific info in the millions of pages of the SAG website.
My guess is that it’s likely that Carrey is in violation of a contract provision. The producers could haul him up before arbitration, but it’s unlikely to play out that drastically. Stars have perks.
I remember Letterman doing a recurring bit for one of his employees that was about to retire. He brought her on camera every night for a week or two, just to hand him something and say one line., so that she would get some extra pay.
My guess is that he knows the film sucks - and this makes him sound like some noble person against violence when, in reality, he is embarrased as fuck to be attached to it.
As was mentioned in that article - all of the violence was written into the script, so there is no huge ass surprise there…sounds more like “take the money and run”. He isn’t the first, and won’t be the last, actor to make a film they know stinks and want nothing more to do with.
The first Kick-Ass was my favorite film of the year a few years ago (not the “best,” just my favorite). I wouldn’t expect the 2nd one to be up there too, but I have no reason to think it’ll suck. I wonder if Carrey even SAW the 1st one. It’s pretty damned violent, and the kids were a lot younger then.
I read somewhere that Carrey was a fan of the first one and word got around hollywood so that lead to the director, or someone, to ask Carrey if he wanted o be in the second one.
When it comes to violence, this is essentially meaningless. On the page, it can read:
They fight. It is long and brutal.
But when you actually see the long and brutal fight, it may go far beyond what your imagination put forth. I don’t think either he or the movie will suffer much from his backing away.
