Dream Tropes Wiki/Money, Dear Boy

Template:Trope
Sometimes, undeniably famous, classical actors and actresses (or even loveable, talented, squeaky-clean child and/or teen actors/actresses) take roles in movies that are very against their type. Unlike the Classically Trained Extras, who lament that their talent is being wasted, or the small but legitimate roles of the One-Scene Wonder, or the Old Shame of roles taken when it was the only work available, this trope covers actors who are completely fine with the situation. Why? Simply put: the long green.

Obviously, movies are big business, and the right name at the top of the poster can be the difference between a hit and a flop. And it's hard to argue with the fact that, when offered buckets and buckets of cash for three weeks of shooting, anyone would be a fool not to take it. After all, acting is a volatile profession, as many starving artists can attest, and financial security for you and your family is nothing to turn from: It's not so much selling out, as selling well. And furthermore, most creative professions are overcrowded; for every wealthy and successful artist who can afford to sniff at jobs that are 'beneath' him or her, there are ten or more underworked ones who would kill for a chance at the income. On a cynical note, in the state that America is in today, you shouldn't be surprised to see this more often. Most actors have been seen sliding down the perceived hierarchy of the entertainment field, with the most common "step down" is for actors who primarily work in film suddenly "slumming it" by taking roles on television.

Still, if you do too many of these, you run the risk of having a rather strange IMDb record and irrevocably ruining your reputation as a creative thespian: so much potential and talent wasted. Some artists, however, can turn this to their advantage; a common reason cited by many successful artists who engage in this trope is that a high-paying job that doesn't greatly interest them means that they have more money to put into funding and appearing in lower-budget but more creatively appealing ones.

To be clear, however, there is no shame at all for doing a movie for the money, and if the movie happens to be a great one, artistically or popularly, all the better. Even if it is for the money, the level can be kept high and professional and they can turn out something great (like the example with Coppola and The Godfather).

If it ends up a mediocre, run of the mill production, that's also excusable. People in creative jobs need an income the same as anyone else, and in fact, many of the greatest popcorn flicks of all time are great primarily because the studio shelled out the money to get actors and directors who would rather be doing something else, but who were still prepared to give the audience a good performance.

However, should a cash-in movie end up So Bad, It's Horrible, both the audience and the critics are likely to be notably less forgiving than they would be while judging a bad movie with original, artistic premise marred by flawed execution. As a result, rather paradoxically, an artist who takes the job for the money is perhaps best trying to put in a decent (or at least entertaining) performance even in a movie that doesn't match up to their standards. Whether they Took the Bad Film Seriously or end up Chewing the Scenery with Ham and Cheese, they're likely to elicit more respect from the audience than if they took the money but made it clear through their performance that they couldn't care less for anything but the paycheck.

This is also the reason for the percentage of high quality foreign artists appearing in crummy American films: Hollywood, even at its most cheapskate, tends to pay much better than any other film industry in the world. Note that this also applies to star in big US television shows; with multi-million dollar deals commonplace, it can allow you to be a lot more choosy for the next few years.

Similar to getting a healthy paycheck, some actors will just want to do something "their kids can watch", the kind of roles most actors seek usually being dark and not appropriate for minors.

A common theme — especially among older actors and actresses — stems from growing up during hard economic conditions, either from a poor economy as a whole or from family hardships. The fear that "The Next Job" may not come, as it often failed to do for their family, drives them to take roles they might not otherwise be interested in. And, again, they're not exaggerating: any actor, young and old, always deals with extremely uneven income flow with absolutely no hard guarantees for the future. As a general rule, if a recognizable name turns up in a movie featured on MST3K orRiffTrax, this trope is almost certainly why.

Compare and contrast Doing It for the Art (when artistic value and/or achievement is the primary motivator), and Awesome, Dear Boy (when the actor takes the role for the coolness of it, regardless of how crappy the work is), Vacation, Dear Boy (where they work on the project so they can go to a special location), and One for the Money; One for the Art (where a creator uses the money earned from a purely commercial project to finance one that's more personal and artistic).

See also Contractual Obligation Project, Paying Their Dues, I Was Young and Needed the Money (when this trope is given as the excuse for Old Shame), WTH, Casting Agency?, Took the Bad Film Seriously. Not to be confused with Only in It for the Money, which is when this is the excuse a character uses in-story.

Also notice that if a great actor is in a crappy movie, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's in it just for the money; contrast Awesome, Dear Boy and So My Kids Can Watch.

## Examples

### Individuals — Actors (A-F)

* Template:W, during his 2014 interview on Andy Wilson Live, was asked why he did *Seeking a Friend for the End of the World*. Steve replied "Well, one day I was just sitting around and then my agent came knocking and said "Look, here's $10 million, come in and do this romance movie that's a cash-in on the Mayan doomsday panic. I was forced to accept the role since I had to pay for my car insurance somehow!"

### Individuals — Actors (N-Z)

* Template:W stated in an interview that this is why he narrated *Nebular Knights*, because El TV Kadsre paid him well for the job.