15 Famous Actors Who Got Fired Or Quit After Their Raise Was Denied

Advocating for yourself at work is important, and that includes your salary.

NBC / Via giphy.com

Unfortunately, some people experience retaliation when they ask for a raise. Others take the denial as a sign that it's time to move on.

It also extends to Hollywood. Actors — in both big roles and small ones — have had their requests for a pay bump denied.

Sony Pictures Releasing / Via giphy.com

Sometimes, they've even lost their job over it. Other times, however, it's the actor's choice to leave a project when they feel their worth isn't being recognized.

Here are 15 actors who quit or were fired after asking for more money:

1.Terrence Howard — who had a three-picture deal with Marvel — played Rhodey/War Machine in Iron Man. However, during sequel negotiations, he was only offered 12.5% of the salary he'd initially been promised.

Terrence Howard in "Iron Man."
Paramount / ??Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

On Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, he said, "It turns out that the person I helped become Iron Man...took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out."

Terrence Howard in "Iron Man."

He continued, "I called my friend — that I helped get the first job — and he didn't call me back for three months."

Paramount / ??Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

So, Howard left the project, and Don Cheadle took over the role.

Don Cheadle as Rhodey.
Paramount / ??Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

2.Following the success of The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Hilary Duff was in negotiations with Disney for a sequel.

Hilary Duff in "The Lizzie McGuire Movie."
Walt Disney Co. / ??Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection

Initially, Disney promised her a $500,000 bonus once the first movie made $50 million. However, Susan Duff wanted her daughter to receive the bonus immediately.

Susan and Hilary Duff

So, Disney chose to withdraw the entire offer for a sequel, costing Hilary the $4 million salary she would've had as well as the bonus.

Hilary Duff

3.Valerie Harper starred as Valerie Hogan on the Lorimar Productions sitcom Valerie for two seasons.

Valerie Harper
Mario Casilli / TV Guide / ?Lorimar / courtesy Everett Collection

As the show's ratings increased, she requested a pay raise to $100,000 per episode as well as 35% of the adjusted gross profits. Lorimar turned her down, so she stopped showing up for work.

Valerie Harper holding a stuffed animal.

This tactic had been successful for her before. Prior to the second season of Rhoda, she got CBS to boost her weekly pay from $10,000 to $17,500 by refusing to work otherwise.

Tim Boxer / Getty Images

She returned to set when they compromised at $65,000 an episode and 12.5% of the profits. However, a week later, they fired her.

Valerie Harper

The show was renamed Valerie's Family and continued into the third season without her. Her character was killed off, and Sandy Duncan joined the cast as Sandy Hogan, Valerie's sister-in-law.

Sandy Duncan

For the next season, the show was renamed The Hogan Family.

Bonnie Schiffman / TV Guide /? NBC /Courtesy Everett Collection

4.Grace Park played Officer Kono Kalakaua on Hawaii Five-0 for seven seasons.

Closeup of Grace Park
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

Her salary was reportedly 10-15% lower than what her costars Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin received, so before the eighth season, she sought pay equity.

Scott Caan, Alex O'Loughlin, and Grace Park
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

However, when she and CBS were unable to reach an agreement, she decided to leave the show.

Grace Park in "Hawaii Five-O"
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

5.Park's Hawaii Five-0 costar Daniel Dae Kim — who played Detective Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly for seven seasons — also sought equal pay with Caan and O'Loughlin, who also reportedly receive a percentage of the show's profits.

Daniel Dae Kim in "Hawaii Five-O"
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

He, too, declined to return for the eighth season when his request for pay equity wasn't met.

Daniel Dae Kim in "Hawaii Five-0"

6.Hugo Weaving played Johann Schmidt/Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger. He also signed a three-picture deal with the promise that "the money would grow each time."

Hugo Weaving as Red Skull
Paramount / ??Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo asked him to reprise the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. However, the money they offered him was "much less than [he] got for the very first one, and this was for two films."

Hugo Weaving

In the movies, Red Skull was recreated through CGI. Ross Marquand voiced him after filming, so they used stand-ins on set.

  Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com

7.Suzanne Somers played Chrissy Snow on Three's Company for five seasons.

  ABC courtesy Everett Collection
ABC courtesy Everett Collection

In 1980, she asked for her salary to be raised from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 so her pay would match what costar John Ritter made. However, ABC only offered a $5,000 raise.

Chrissy and Jack in "Three's Company."

She missed filming for the next season's third and fourth episodes, but it was reportedly due to an old back injury.

ABC courtesy Everett Collection

The day before Somers and her husband/manager Alan Hamel went back to renegotiate, he got a call from a friend with connections at the network: "They’re going to hang a nun in the marketplace, and the nun is Suzanne."

Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel

Somers was fired from the show, and Jenilee Harrison was brought in as Cindy Snow, Chrissy's cousin.

Jenilee Harrison

Somers said, "Getting fired for asking for a raise wasn’t fair, but I landed on my feet, and I’ve done OK."

ABC courtesy Everett Collection

8.Lauren Cohan played Maggie Greene on The Walking Dead from 2011-2018.

Maggie in "The Walking Dead"
AMC / Via youtube.com

After her first contract was up, it was time to renegotiation with AMC. She reportedly asked for equal pay with her male costars.

Lauren Cohan and Norman Reedus.

However, the negotiations left her feeling "in some ways surprised," so she "took that, how baffled [she] was, and thought, 'Okay, well that's a sign. This is maybe just not a fit anymore.'"

Lauren Cohan

When she left the show, however, she also left the door open for her character to return. In 2020, she returned, and she's still there.

She told the Hollywood Reporter,

9.Robert Duvall played Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.

Tom Hagen in "The Godfather."
Paramount Pictures courtesy Everett Collection

However, he didn't return for The Godfather Part III because of how much more costar Al Pacino was paid.

Al Pacino and Robert Duvall
Paramount Pictures courtesy Everett Collection

"I said I would work easily if they paid Pacino twice what they paid me, that's fine. But not three or four times, which is what they did," he told CBS.

Robert Duvall

To account for his absence, The Godfather Part III revealed that his character died before the events of the movie.

Ira L. Black - Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images

10.In 1996, Will Smith played Captain Steven Hiller in Independence Day.

Will Smith in "Independence Day."
20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Courtesy: Everett Collection

When director Roland Emmerich started proposing ideas for a sequel in 2011, Smith reportedly requested $50 million for a two-picture deal.

Cast of "Independence Day."
Jeff Haynes / AFP via Getty Images

In 2016, Emmerich finally made a sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence. However, Smith wasn't invited back "because he’s too expensive." Liam Hemsworth played the new lead character.

Liam Hemsworth in "Independence Day: Resurgence."

11.Maggie Roswell voiced Maude Flanders on The Simpsons from 1990-1999.

Maude Flanders in "The Simpsons."
Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection

She asked Fox to raise her salary from $1,500-$2,000 an episode to $6,000. However, Fox only offered her an extra $150 — which didn't even cover her flights from her home in Denver to the recording studio in Los Angeles.

Maggie Roswell

So, she quit, and Maude was killed off in the 2,000th episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily."

Maude Flanders in "The Simpsons"
Fox / Via youtube.com

However, in 2002, Roswell reached a deal with Fox. Since then, she's been voicing Maude in flashbacks and as a ghost.

Maude as a ghost in "The Simpsons."
Fox / Via youtube.com

12.Bruce Willis played Mr. Church in The Expendables and The Expendables 2.

Bruce Willis
Lions Gate / ??Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

He was supposed to reprise the role in The Expendables 3. Reportedly, his initial salary was $3 million for four consecutive days on set in Bulgaria. However, the actor requested $4 million instead.

Bruce Willis
Vcg / VCG via Getty Images

Director Sylvester Stallone denied his request, so Willis dropped out of the movie. Within 72 hours, Harrison Ford was cast in his place.

Harrison Ford in "The Expendables 3."
Lions Gate / ??Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

13.Benicio del Toro was director J.J. Abrams' first choice to play Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness.

Benicio del Toro
Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

Del Toro entered into talks with Paramount, but he ultimately passed on the deal because of money.

Benicio del Toro
Samir Hussein / WireImage / Via Getty

The role went to Benedict Cumberbatch.

Benedict Cumberbatch in "Star Trek Into Darkness."
Paramount / ??Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

14.Jonah Hill was in talks to play the Riddler in The Batman.

Jonah Hill
Taylor Hill / FilmMagic / Via Getty

However, he reportedly asked for a $10 million salary — twice as much as the lead, Robert Pattinson, made.

Jonah Hill and Robert Pattinson
Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic / Via Getty

He and Warner Bros. failed to reach a deal, and the role went to Paul Dano.

The Riddler in "The Batman."
Jonathan Olley / ? Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

15.And finally, Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker in Spider-Man (2002), but he almost wasn't in the sequel.

Tobey Maguire
Sade Rosenthal / ?Columbia Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection

He reportedly wanted to negotiate a higher salary for the sequel. During pre-production, Columbia felt the back problems he reported were actually a negotiation tactic.

Tobey Maguire
Toni Anne Barson Archive / WireImage / Via Getty

So, to keep the ball rolling, they recast him with Jake Gyllenhaal, who was also dating Maguire's costar/ex-girlfriend Kirsten Dunst at the time.

Kirsten Dunst and Jake Gyllenhaal
Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic / Via Getty

However, Ron Meyer, the then-Vivendi Universal president and Maguire's future father-in-law, helped him get the role back.

Ron Meyer and Tobey Maguire

He ultimately made $17 million for the sequel.

Kevin Winter / Getty Images