Hats off to the parents who negotiated these terms in their kids movie contracts, as their offspring are still reaping the benefits today.
A string of young stars are continuing to cash in on their childhood movie roles thanks to the everlasting popularity of the films they starred in.
And that, my friends, is why you want to get cast in a flick which showbiz bosses are banking on becoming a cult classic – as it could reward you for years and years to come.
As well as the agreed upon fee they receive for their acting efforts, stars can earn a few extra quid long after the movie they are starring in first dropped.
Performers can receive residual payments to compensate them for reruns and airings after the project’s initial release, such as every time it’s broadcast on telly or when someone buys the DVD.
Other actors might have sorted out royalty payments instead, which is a recurring payment which they receive in exchange for their continued permission to their property or copyrighted works.
Although they seem quite similar on the surface, residuals are union mandated, according to City National Bank, whereas royalties are ‘a separate agreement between production companies and those they employ’.
So, now we’ve got all of that stuff out of the way, shall we see what child actors are still earning money off their pre-teen performances?
Titanic – Reece Thompson
Move over Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, as the award for the cutest character in Titanic easily goes to Reece Thompson.
He was just five years old when he played the little Irish lad who’s onboard the doomed ship as a third-class passenger in James Cameron’s 1997 film.
These days, Thompson is reportedly working as a digital marketing director in the US state of Utah – but he still receives royalty cheques for his minor role in the Oscar-winning movie.
He told Business Insider back in 2018: “It’s weird because it’s not present in my mind anymore. It’s not like, ‘Oh, when am I going to get a new Titanic check?’
“When it happens, it’s like, ‘Oh, cool, an extra $100’. There have been a couple of times where it’s been like: ‘Oh, wow, that’s a $250 check’.
“But hopefully, they keep playing it a lot because that means more money for me.”
So, it seems as though Thompson has got at least another few hundred quid to play with each year thanks to his Titanic gig.
Superbad – Casey Margolis
Remember that little kid obsessed with drawing d*cks who played a young Jonah Hill in Superbad? Well, he’s doing super good thanks to the ongoing residual payments he receives.
Casey Margolis had an interesting role in the 2007 comedy which involved him compulsively doodling penises in the classroom – and he’s earned a pretty penny from it.
Although it might be a bit of a strange fame to claim, the actor is more than happy to discuss how playing the genital-obsessed kid at the age of 11 has paid off for him.
In a TikTok video shared in 2023, he revealed that he was paid $700-a-day (£580) for his gig as Jonah’s younger self, but he is still continuing to pocket a hefty amount of cash 18 years after the film was released.
“Total here is $255.39 (£200) and the actual gross was $400.62 (£315),” Margolis said. God bless tax!”
A few months later, he revealed he had got a residual check with a gross total of $573.35 (£480) for Free TV, Internet Rental/ SVOD, Video/ DVD and Pay TV. The take home from that was $365.51 (£300).
So it’s safe to say Superbad is still rewarding him handsomely after all these years – with Margolis explaining he typically receives a residual cheque around every three months, which can ‘vary from 3 cents to 100 bucks’.
The biggest residual check the actor has ever received from his role in Superbad amounted to $10,033.34 (£8,300) – of which the actor took home $6,757.47 (£5,011.37).
Lion King – Jason Weaver
You might not recognise this guy’s name or face, but you’d certainly recognise Jason Weaver’s vocals.
He’s the man behind Simba’s solos in The Lion King and he was just 13 years old when he recorded hit tracks for the 1994 Disney movie, such as ‘I Just Can’t Wait to Be King’.
Thankfully, his mother Marilyn ‘Kitty’ Haywood was on hand to help him broker a bumper deal for all of his hard work – even though it involved turning down a $2 million payday.
Speaking to Vlad TV back in 2019, Weaver explained: “Immediately my mom goes, ‘Wait a minute, OK, if they’re willing to do that… that’s it, that’s all he’ll ever get, for the remainder of his life?
“They were like, ‘That’s it, he takes the money, that’s it,’ and she was like, ‘No, let’s negotiate royalties’.”
Which is exactly what they did – and this gamble paid off big time, as The Lion King went onto become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time.
Weaver was paid $100,000 (£80,400) upfront for his part in the 1994 film and continues to receive huge cheques from his childhood job to this day.
These royalties will have easily dwarfed the measly $2 million he was initially offered all those years ago – and although he wouldn’t reveal how much he’d raked in from them so far, the true figure must be staggering.
