Melissa Joan Hart, known for her roles in "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Clarissa Explains It All," continues to receive residual payments for her appearance in the 1986 film "Crocodile Dundee," despite her scenes being cut from the final version.
Hart, 50, revealed in a recent interview that she still gets royalty checks, amounting to around 26 cents every few months, from the classic Australian movie. She was about 10 years old when she filmed her part, which involved a brief appearance as a child in Central Park who is healed by Paul Hogan's character. These payments have decreased significantly over the decades since the film's initial success.
"Crocodile Dundee" was a major box office hit, grossing $328 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing Australian film of all time. It also ranked as the second-highest-grossing film in the U.S. in 1986. The film's success spawned two sequels: "Crocodile Dundee II" in 1988 and "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" in 2001.
Hart noted that she and other actors have found a way to utilize these small residual checks. There is a bar in Los Angeles named Residuals where actors can use their royalty payments toward drinks.
Hart began her acting career as a child and experienced numerous rejections. She previously shared on the "Too Much Information" podcast that she lost out on a role in "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers" in 1988. She eventually found broader recognition with her starring role in Nickelodeon's "Clarissa Explains It All" from 1991 to 1994, followed by her iconic portrayal of the title character in "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," which began as a TV movie in 1996 and then became a popular sitcom that aired until 2003. She later starred in the ABC Family sitcom "Melissa & Joey" from 2010 to 2015.
Hart's latest project is the HGTV reality competition series "Totally '90s House," where she and other 1990s television stars renovate a home with the decade's aesthetic. The series premiered on Wednesday night.