How much? Barkhad Abdi earned an Oscar nod for his performance in Captain Phillips, but only got paid $65,000 of the movie’s $55 million budget (pictured with Tom Hanks)
Daily Mail
By Matthew Cox
Barkhad Abdi produced one of the most iconic lies of recent cinema when he uttered the words, ‘I’m the captain now,’ in Captain Phillips – but was only paid $65,000 for his role in the film.
Abdi was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2013 Oscars and Golden Globes, and won the BAFTA equivalent.
With the film having a budget of $55 million, that is barely a tenth of a per cent of the production’s total cost.
However, this is likely down to the fact that this was the actor’s big break.
He told The New Yorker in 2014 that he was working as a driver for his brother’s limousine company when he saw a casting call for Somalis at his local community centre in Minneapolis.
Abdi moved to the US, via Yemen, as a child when war broke out in Somalia.
The Captain Phillips audition began with a questionnaire to which Abdi responded ‘yes’ in every field – including lying about the fact that he could not swim, before doing a run-through with three other men he knew from his apartment block.
Those were Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M. Ali, and Barkhad Abdirahman – known between them as Little B – and the four were soon flown out to Los Angeles together, to make their acting debuts in Paul Greengrass’ film as the pirates.
There, they would be thrust immediately among Hollywood royalty, filming scenes with Tom Hanks – playing the title character in the true story.
On the day Captain Phillips hit the silver screen, Abdi quit his job working for his brother, but was still without an agent.
He needed one though, as a string of award nominations were soon en route.
And not without merit, his iconic line – without doubt the movie’s most memorable – was a moment of raw improvisation.
Now – with an agent – Abdi has capitalized on his performance, and has since starred in Eye In The Sky (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Castle Rock (2019).