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PATRICIA ARQUETTE: 'My 'Boyhood' Salary Was Less Than I Pay My Dog Walker'

Aly Weisman   

PATRICIA ARQUETTE: 'My 'Boyhood' Salary Was Less Than I Pay My Dog Walker'
Entertainment3 min read

boyhood patricia arquette

"Boyhood"/Universal

Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane in "Boyhood."

Director Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" - which is the first movie to ever be shot over 12 years, filming the same actors as they aged - is receiving tons of Oscar buzz and just cleaned up at Sunday's Golden Globe Awards.

The film won three Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director, and Patricia Arquette took home the statue for Best Supporting Actress.

Boyhood Golden Globes

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Producer Jonathan Sehring, director Richard Linklater, actress Lorelei Linklater, producer Cathleen Sutherland, actors Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane, producer John Sloss, and actor Ethan Hawke, winners of Best Motion Picture - Drama for 'Boyhood.'

Since the film's July 11 release, it has earned nearly $43.5 million worldwide on just a $4 million production budget.

But despite the film's box office and critical success, the stars of the movie aren't necessarily raking it in.

Following her Golden Globes win, Patricia Arquette revealed that "Boyhood" was more of a passion project than a lucrative gig.

"It's important to me as an actor to be able to make a living, but I'm going to tell you something - I paid more money to my babysitter and my dog walker than I made on 'Boyhood,' and to be in 'Boyhood!'" the actress told WENN.

Patricia Arquette Boyhood

"Boyhood"/Universal

Arquette, who recently appeared on "Boardwalk Empire" and can currrently be seen on "CSI," says that TV - not film - is often more lucrative.

"Television actually allows you to make a living, feed your children, send them to college. And to have the luxury to make the choices of doing what it is you think that matters," the actress told WENN.

"It blows my mind (we won) because we didn't even know if people would even accept this movie and then to find that people were moved by the movie," Arquette continued. "Winning totally blew our minds. I'm so happy for Rick (Linklater) and so happy for the producers, because they gave $4 million dollars. They gambled on a movie with no safety net, no contracts past seven years… You could've ended up with nothing."

For "Boyhood," 54-year-old director Richard Linklater insisted that financier IFC Films give him part ownership of the movie's copyright.

The Hollywood Reporter explains of the rare deal:

Richard Linklater golden globe award

Maarten de Boer/Getty Images

Richard Linklater made a rare deal for a director on "Boyhood" - but it paid off.

Unlike a typical deal that offers a percentage of profits - or "points" - so a director shares in the success but has no control over the movie's future, Linklater's pact gave him a say in where and how the film is released.

... As an owner, he can join in marketing decisions, touch each part of the revenue stream and eventually sell his stake to a library (by contrast, many directors still are paid for home video on a "royalties" basis that is much lower than theatrical gross).

While exact financial details have not been released, Linklater's ownership is apparently "substantial," his lawyer told THR in June.

But most directors don't take this kind of deal because it forces them to give up a big part of an upfront fee, which is usually estimated to be in the low-seven figures.

"And that's precisely why most directors haven't taken this route," notes THR. "They stick to Hollywood's oldest adage: Take the money and run."

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