Cate Blanchett says she was paid basically nothing to appear in "The Lord of the Rings" circa 2001.

Blanchett recently appeared on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" to promote her new film "Borderlands" and was selected for the "Plead the Fifth" segment.

The second question Cohen posed to her was which of her films she was paid the most for, and she guessed "The Lord of the Rings."

Shocked, Blanchett replied, "Are you kidding?

She continued, "No, no, I didn't get paid anything to be in that movie."

Asked if she got "some of the back end," she told Cohen, "No, no! That was way before any of that. No, nothing! I wanted to work with the guy who made 'Brain Dead. (The 1992 Peter Jackson film, also known as "Dead Alive.")

And Blanchett said, "I mean, I basically got a free sandwich and they left me an ear." In the fantasy film, the actress plays Galadriel and wears pointy prosthetic ears.

When Cohen asked her what the highest-paid movie was outside of "The Lord of the Rings," she replied, "Not much. Women don't get paid as much as you might think."

When asked by Cohen which of her very famous male co-stars was the most high-maintenance in a long list that included Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Redford, and George Clooney, Blanchett eventually gave a five-minute defense She did.

She appeared on WWHL with "Borderlands" co-star Gina Gershon. The video game adaptation opens Friday and also stars Ariana Greenblatt, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis.