Actors Who Are Poorer Than You Thought

Hollywood is all about glamour, and part of that image is money and the lifestyle it affords — and there is a lot of money out there for actors. Adam Sandler earned $73 million in 2023 alone, while in 2022, Tom Cruise earned around $100 million from his work on a single film, "Top Gun: Maverick." Even actors who aren't quite so famous can do pretty well for themselves — typical earnings for a day's work on a television show, for example, starts around $1,000. 

So it's easy to assume that an actor's fame is commensurate with their personal wealth when even the lower-tier movie and television stars are making millions of dollars a year. And yet, in the cases of the actors on this list, you'd be wrong. While none of them are poor by any real standard, they're surprisingly poor compared to the money they've made over the course of their careers. While it should be noted that getting an accurate net worth on a celebrity involves a lot of guesswork and estimating, there's plenty of public information indicating that the following actors are much poorer than you thought.

The time when Lindsay Lohan was the hottest young star in the world seems like the distant past, but in the early 2000s, she was getting paid $7.5 million per film for projects like "Herbie Fully Loaded," "Just My Luck," and "Georgia Rule." By 2020, however, her estimated fortune had slipped below $1 million. That would seem like a lot of money to plenty of people, of course, but it's not what you think of when you think of a movie star who was once paid $1 million to pose for Playboy Magazine. 

Back in 2010, the actress had been to rehab three times by the age of 23 and was finding it difficult to get acting work, largely because she was impossible to insure as a result of her substance misuse issues (and spending $5,000 a week on drugs will wear out even the biggest bank account). Add to that the declining paychecks for the work she could get (she was paid just $100 per day for her work on "The Canyons" in 2013), and you have a recipe for financial disaster on an epic scale. As of late 2024, Lohan's fortunes have improved somewhat, although her estimated wealth of $2 million is still only a fraction of the $23 million the "Mean Girls" star has been paid for her past movies.

An estimated net worth in late 2024 of $5 million certainly isn't nothing, but considering that Chris Tucker was once one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood (he got $25 million for "Rush Hour 3" alone), it's a surprisingly low number, even when you take into account his apparent lack of interest in working. Since his 1998 break into megastardom with 1998's "Rush Hour," Tucker has only appeared in five films: "Rush Hour 2," "Rush Hour 3," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk," and "Air."

So what happened to all the money? Tax problems and "poor accounting and business management" resulted in a whopping $14 million fine from the IRS. (He eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.) Those problems sparked a domino effect: Tucker had a $6 million home foreclosed on as well. Having your money mismanaged by so-called professionals can happen to anybody, and Tucker's fortunes may be on the upswing again if the rumors about a fourth "Rush Hour" film turn out to be true, though whether he can match that $25 million salary remains to be seen.

Gary Busey has been a phenomenally successful actor. While never a superstar, over the course of five decades he's compiled nearly 200 acting roles and has rarely gone more than a year without a job. And some of those credits were in some pretty successful films, movies like "Under Siege" and "Point Break." And yet by 2024, Busey was estimated to be worth just $500,000. So what happened? 

As with most people's stories, Busey's is complicated. He was once regarded as a major leading man, and was even nominated for an Oscar for his work in "The Buddy Holly Story" in 1978. But in 1988, the famous actor suffered a horrific motorcycle accident that resulted in brain injuries — injuries that changed his behavior in ways that impacted his career. 

As The Hollywood Reporter reported, Busey's actor son, Jake, said his father's inability to censor his thoughts has made it harder for both of them. "The same Busey name that helped me 30 years ago has become a scorpion's tail because it's associated with insanity," Jake said. Busey's injury also exacerbated an existing drug misuse issue, and the combination of no impulse control, drugs, and a lack of high-paying jobs led to a 2012 bankruptcy filing in which he listed just $50,000 in assets.

Nicolas Cage has had one of the more surprising acting career transformations of the modern age. Cage was once considered an A-list talent, an actor who could do serious work ("Leaving Las Vegas," "Adaptation") as well as play a believable action star ("Con Air," "The Rock"). His estimated 2024 net worth of $40 million is a lot of money, but considering the fact that Cage was once worth as much as $150 million and earned as much as $20 million for a single film, that number seems awfully low. 

The figure seems tiny until you start reading about Cage's insane shopping spree, in which he purchased no fewer than 15 homes, other properties, and collectibles like a rare Superman comic book and a dinosaur skull. Such excessive spending can erode any fortune, and when Cage came up short on the absolutely massive property tax bills, foreclosures began and he had to scramble to stay solvent. While he's become a bit of an Internet meme for the slew of low-budget and sometimes-sketchy films he's appeared in over the last decade, that hustle is why he's rebuilt at least a portion of his former fortune.

As part of Long Island's Baldwin acting family, Stephen Baldwin has appeared in some big movies — films like "Born on the Fourth of July" and "The Usual Suspects" – and, yes, a lot of not-so-big movies. Still, he's worked as a well-known actor for decades, so you might imagine he'd be worth a bit more than his current estimated $1 million. That is, until you factor in the fact that Baldwin got into a lot of tax and credit card trouble a few years ago. 

After falling behind on his mortgage payments on his million-dollar Long Island home, Baldwin tried to sell, and wound up defaulting on the $781,000 loan instead. At the same time, the IRS came after him for basically not paying taxes for a couple of years, slapping a $407,000 lien on the actor. Baldwin has spent the last few years cleaning up his finances. The house was auctioned off, and Baldwin and his wife moved into a modest apartment in Queens to reduce expenses. Baldwin eventually got the lien lifted, but all that drama has had a long-lasting negative effect on his net worth.

Wesley Snipes, formerly a top-line action star who was once paid $13 million for "Blade: Trinity" alone, should be a very rich man. What happened? In a nutshell, Snipes is one of the many extremely wealthy people who thought he could get away with not paying his taxes. 

Snipes was indicted in 2006 for tax fraud in the form of $12 million in refunds he illegally claimed, not to mention failing to file tax returns for several years. His legal team claimed he was the victim of terrible advice but comically failed to mount any sort of defense when the case went to trial, while the IRS proved he'd earned about $40 million between 1999 and 2004. Yep, Snipes wound up in jail on tax evasion charges — but just because you go to jail doesn't mean you stop owing the IRS, so Snipes still had to repay his back taxes when he got out in 2013. He managed, after a few more years in court, to get his debt reduced from $23 million to $9.5 million, but that's still gotta hurt your bottom line, especially when you're not the A-Lister you once were.

In many cases of actors and other celebrities dealing with money troubles, it's hard to ignore a certain schadenfreude. After all, most of those folks had opportunities beyond what most of us get. Rutherford's story isn't one of reckless spending and inflated ego, though. The reason the star of "Gossip Girl" and "Melrose Place" is estimated to be only worth $1 million today is a devastating divorce and custody battle. 

Divorce is a top contender for being the main destroyer of wealth in the modern age, and Rutherford's was particularly nasty. In addition to legal fees to her attorneys, Rutherford had to spend enormous amounts of money flying back and forth to Monaco just to see her children after her estranged husband moved them there, making 70 trips in just two years. This also impaired her ability to work since she was traveling all the time. The exorbitant costs of divorce and custody battles plus no work forced Rutherford to declare bankruptcy in 2013. With that in mind, it's kind of impressive that she's clawed her way back to millionaire status.

Depending on your age, you may or may not remember Sinbad, but there was a point in the mid-1990s when Sinbad seemed to be everywhere. He had his own TV show and starred in plenty of movies, all while maintaining a solid stand-up comedy career — all of which should leave him an incredibly wealthy man. However, estimates of Sinbad's wealth barely peek into six figures, well into relatively ordinary figures.

Sinbad has been pretty honest about what happened to his money. In 2013, he did an interview with Huffpost Live and admitted that he tried to keep his business interests afloat with his own money, assuming he'd get a big movie role to cover the losses — a job offer that never came. As he struggled to pay salaries and equipment fees, he fell behind on his taxes and eventually had to twice declare bankruptcy. A series of medical crises followed, including spinal fusion surgery in 2015, which further slowed his ability to work while putting pressure on his finances. Sinbad has done some sporadic television in recent years, including a regular role on the now-canceled FOX series "Rel," which has allowed him to rebuild his fortune to a certain extent.

You might know Teri Polo best from the "Meet the Parents" films, which together grossed over $1 billion worldwide. A former model, Polo has appeared in over 100 other movies and TV shows in a career lasting nearly four decades. Yet, she fell into enormous debt and filed for bankruptcy in 2014, and is now estimated to still be a few hundred thousand dollars short of the millionaire club.

When Polo filed for bankruptcy, she claimed to have less then $50,000 to her name with debts (mainly back taxes) of about $1 million. She was also being sued by her landlord when she stopped paying rent with almost a year to go on her lease, allegedly leaving her apartment in a disgusting and disastrous state, which added to her legal and financial woes. Polo's landlord dropped the suit when her bankruptcy filing made it difficult to make a financial claim against her. Polo continues to work, and at least appears to be far more financially sound than she was in the mid-2010s.

Best known for his roles in "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Independence Day," Randy Quaid was once one of the hardest-working actors in Hollywood. Between 1971 and 2009, he appeared in nearly 120 films and television shows. Along the way, he picked up some pretty hefty paychecks, including $1 million for "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and $2.25 million for "Kingpin." In 2006, he was able to command $1 million to appear in "Goya's Ghosts." 

Yet, despite those big paydays, Quaid is estimated to be $1 million in the hole, largely due to a series of bizarre actions taken by Quaid and his wife, Evi. The Quaids claimed they were being targeted by a shadowy organization they called "The Hollywood Star Whackers," a shadowy group they said has killed many celebrities, including Heath Ledger. Along the way, they skipped out on huge bills, squatted in properties they didn't own, and tried to live in Canada illegally. While the Quaids have been relatively quiet for a few years and have returned to California, it's been a rough ride, one which has apparently cost Quaid all of his money.

Kevin Spacey was one of Hollywood's most acclaimed actors, winning two Oscars and rave reviews for his performance as devious politician Frank Underwood in the Netflix hit "House of Cards," a role that brought him ten Emmy nominations. In 2017, it all came crashing down when an avalanche of sexual misconduct allegations slammed the brakes on Spacey's career. Not only was he fired from "House of Cards," Spacey was deemed so toxic that scenes he'd shot for Ridley Scott's film "All the Money in the World" were reshot with another actor, screen icon Christopher Plummer, adding an additional $10 million to the budget to remove all traces of Spacey from the film.

By 2024, Spacey had been spending more time in courtrooms than soundstages, which had depleted his fortune to the point that a bank foreclosed on his luxurious Baltimore condo. "Because I can't pay the bills that I owe," Spacey explained during an appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored," admitting he'd come close to filing for bankruptcy but had thus far managed to stave it off. Asked by host Piers Morgan how much money he had, Spacey offered a bleak response. "None," he stated. "I still owe a lot of legal bills that I have not been able to pay ... many millions."

Spacey never actually divulged the precise amount that he owed, but some reports indicate he may be as much as $2 million in debt.

Among Nickelodeon's hottest stars, "Drake & Josh" actor Drake Bell seemingly had a bright future awaiting after his initial burst of teen stardom. However, after the end of "Drake and Josh" in 2007, that promising career proved to be elusive, and by 2014 things had gone so wrong for Bell that he declared bankruptcy. According to People, he had amassed more than $1.5 million in debt; Bell's bankruptcy filing indicated monthly expenses of $18,771, while his monthly income was a fraction of that, just $2,820.

In the years that followed, Bell pursued a career in music. He put out a few albums over the years, including 2024's "Non-Stop Flight," a 35-song collection that Bell audaciously compared to Brian Wilson's groundbreaking genius in The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds." Hand in hand with those albums, however, came plenty of controversy — including a brief jail sentence for DUI, an ex's allegations of abuse, an arrest on charges of child endangerment over some inappropriate texts with a minor, a stint in rehab, and a bizarre incident in which he went missing. In 2024, Bell appeared in the blockbuster documentary series "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV," revealing he was sexually abused by acting coach Brian Peck as a teen Nickelodeon star. 

He rebranded himself as a Latin artist, enjoying modest success in Mexico after renaming himself "Drake Campana" and releasing a Spanish-language album. As of late 2024, Bell is worth an estimated $600,000.

One of the most popular child stars of the 1970s, Melissa Gilbert enjoyed TV stardom during her nine-season run on successful TV hit "Little House on the Prairie." She ultimately went on to become president of the Screen Actors Guild, serving in that role from 2001 until 2005.

After her 2011 divorce from fellow actor Bruce Boxleitner, she remarried, tying the knot with former "thirtysomething" star Timothy Busfield in 2013. During that time, her acting career had hit a dry spell, leading the couple to move from California to Michigan. In 2015, USA Today reported that she owed the IRS $360,000 in unpaid taxes. "Like so many people across the nation, the recession hit me hard," Gilbert said in a statement to E! News. "That, plus a divorce and a dearth of acting opportunities the last few years, created a perfect storm of financial difficulty for me." 

Interviewed by Next Avenue in 2022, Gilbert admitted she and Busfield now lived far more frugally than she ever had before. "We are gig workers," she explained, revealing that while she still received meager residuals from her "Little House" role, that was hardly enough to live on. "I mean, I just got a check for 20 cents. The stamp costs more!" she said, admitting that she no longer recklessly spent money the way she used to. "I have learned to be very mindful of my expenses ..." she said.

Growing up as the daughter of legendary TV producer Aaron Spelling in what was then the largest house in Los Angeles, money was never an issue for Tori Spelling. The prototypical nepo baby, Spelling catapulted to stardom when she was cast in her dad's hit series, "Beverly Hills, 90210." 

Ever since, Spelling — who in 2023 split from husband Dean McDermott — has been plagued with financial problems. In 2016, she and her then-husband reportedly owed more than $250,000 in back taxes, and that same year she was sued by American Express over an unpaid credit card balance of nearly $90,000 (having previously been sued for an outstanding balance of $38,000). "Just because I'm on TV doesn't mean that I don't make financial choices that aren't good," she told "Entertainment Tonight" in 2013. 

In 2023, she and her five children were photographed staying in an RV in a campground; the following year, she and her kids moved into a five-bedroom, $12,000-per-month rental. Clearly, Spelling's financial situation has been in flux; her mother, Candy Spelling, once told TMZ that she'd been paying her daughter's bills. "I've been helping her out," Spelling's mom said. "I am not great with money, and I know a lot of people read a lot of stuff about my financial things going on," Spelling admitted in an episode of her podcast, "Tori Tried and True" (via People). "I had a business manager since I was 18 years old, so I never handled any of my money."

According to some estimates, Pamela Anderson may be sitting atop a $20 million dollar fortune, but the former "Baywatch" star offered a far different characterization in her 2023 Netflix documentary series, "Pamela: A Love Story." (Then again, that valuation may have come from the fact that she sold her longtime Malibu home — which reportedly cost $8 million to renovate — in 2020 for $11.8 million. 

In that documentary, her son, Brandon Lee (a producer on the project), stated that his mother has been in debt for most of her life. "She was the most famous woman in the world on the most famous show in the world and she doesn't have a nest egg from 'Baywatch' to rely upon," the film's director, Ryan White, told Yahoo! Entertainment of Anderson's admission that she earned little from the show. He related an anecdote about Anderson insisting on paying when they went out for dinner. "As she was handing over a credit card, she made this like half joke [about how her credit card sometimes] doesn't work ... I laughed, but she was like, 'No, really, a lot of times throughout my career my credit cards were declined. I am just not a good financial planner,'" White recalled.

According to movie producer Jon Peters, during his brief 12-day marriage to Anderson, he'd covered her debts. "She had almost $200,000 in bills and no way to pay it so I paid it ..." he wrote in an email to Page Six.

Australian actor Adelaide Kane starred in four seasons of historical TV drama "Reign," before going on to play Dr. Jules Millin in "Grey's Anatomy" in 2022. Back in 2020, however, she shattered any assumptions about her perceived wealth when she laid out her financial situation in a candid TikTok post, in which she addressed online reports of her net worth. "So I found out today the internet thinks I'm worth $4 million," she said in her video. "My crippling debt says otherwise. WHERE?!"

As Kane explained, she made $20K per episode for "Reign." "That pares out to $1.56 million for four years of work," she said, estimating she'd earned a total of $5 million since she began working at age 16. "Here is how that breaks down: 10% goes to my agent, 10% goes to my manager, 5% goes to my lawyer, 5% goes to my business manager, and then I get taxed a further 30% because I'm a foreign national working in the U.S., so I lose 60% right off the bat, which leaves me with about $2.2 million over the last 14 years. Which, if you average it out, comes down to $178,000-ish a year."

A decent wage, but hardly enough to live in the lap of luxury, especially when factoring in the costs of a publicist ($2,000 per month) and the costs of red carpet appearances, which in turn call for a stylist (between $750 to $1,500 per outfit) and approximately $1,000 for hair and makeup.

There was a time in the 1980s and '90s when Val Kilmer was among Hollywood's hottest A-listers, playing Iceman in "Top Gun," troubled rock legend Jim Morrison in director Oliver Stone's "The Doors," and (unfortunately) the Caped Crusader in the critically reviled "Batman Returns." His 1996 divorce from Joanne Whalley was followed by a career downturn during the 2000s. When he and Whalley split, Kilmer agreed to pay her $27,500 per month in child support, a sum that became difficult as his acting paychecks grew smaller and fewer. Whalley eventually got a lien on Kilmer's New Mexico ranch in 2007, when he'd fallen significantly behind on payments; Kilmer ultimately rectified the situation. 

Meanwhile, Kilmer experienced recurring issues with back taxes. The IRS took out a lien on his ranch in 2009 for more than a half-million in unpaid taxes. After he'd settled that, in 2010 he was then hit with another lien for $500K. The following year, he hired a financial consulting firm to help dig him out of his quagmire — which then, ironically, sued him for an unpaid bill of more than $128,000. Kilmer's struggles reached a whole other level in 2017, when he announced he'd been diagnosed with throat cancer.

In 2011, Kilmer sold the bulk of his massive 5,328-acre New Mexico property for $18.5 million, retaining 14 acres for himself. Proceeds of that sale are likely the source of his reported net worth of $10 million.

Drea de Matteo is best known as Adriana La Cerva on "The Sopranos," along with roles in the high-profile (but ultimately disastrous) "Friends" spinoff "Joey," and recurring roles in "Desperate Housewives" and "Sons of Anarchy." After a stint as a series regular on the Jennifer Lopez-starring cop show "Shades of Blue," her career slumped after the pandemic, which she believed was due to her stance opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

In 2023, de Matteo revealed her money struggles had driven her to appear nude on OnlyFans. "I know some people have said some nasty things about me having joined OnlyFans. But, you know, the way we see it in this house is mommy's a warrior, not accepting defeat," de Matteo told Fox News.

In a 2024 interview with the Daily Mail, de Matteo offered more details, revealing that her financial situation had grown so dire that she had just $10 in her bank account, while poised to lose her home to foreclosure. With nothing left to lose, supporting two children and her dementia-stricken mother, OnlyFans felt like her only option. Success on the spicy site was immediate; according to de Matteo, within five minutes of sharing skin-baring photos, she'd generated enough income to save her house from foreclosure. As her subscriber base grew, she was also able to fund a new line of streetwear. "OnlyFans saved my life, 100%," she declared. "I can't believe I'm saying that, but it really did save us."

Any devotees of the Disney Channel during the 2000s will be familiar with Christy Carlson Romano, star of the hit sitcom "Even Stevens" (alongside frequently arrested Hollywood hellion Shia LaBeouf) and the voice of animated hero Kim Possible. 

However, as she explained in a candid YouTube video, all that success at a young age did not translate into a hefty nest egg once she grew up. "I really regret not investing my money wisely," said Romano, who has a reported net worth of $250,000. "I didn't get a house. I didn't take any money and store it away," she added. At 18, she went to college, but quit after a year and a half. "I was never told how much money I was making," she continued. "Money didn't have a purpose for me. I didn't really know what it was. I just knew that I had it and I didn't care about it."

As residual checks grew smaller and she burned through her savings, she soon came to the shocking realization that she was broke. She wound up taking roles in projects she would have otherwise avoided, just so she could pay her rent and maintain her SAG-AFTRA health insurance. She ultimately rebounded, finding success in podcasting by opening up about her real-life struggles as a former child star. "I don't know what my possibilities are, but I know it's rooted in authentic-ness," she told Texas Monthly. "Be authentic, but monetizing."

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues or has been a victim of sexual assault, contact the relevant resources below:

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

• The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).