The sad yet disappointing truth about Hollywood’s severely underpaid talent is spotlighted in a recent interview with actor Terrence Howard. The Hustle & Flow star shared how much he made from the film, and the numbers are astounding. Check out the viral clip inside.

The 2005 film Hustle & Flow quickly became a cultural classic amongst rap and film lovers. The movie, starring Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Elise Neal, DJ Qualls, Ludacris and Paula Jai Parker is considered a musical romance, following DJay (Howard) as a pimp living day to day on the hard streets of Memphis, Tennessee. The aspiring artist, pushing 40, was tired of the life he was living and dreamt of something greater. When he meets up with an old friend (Anderson) who is now in the recording industry, he’s inspired to turn his life around and uses his criminal life as an inspiration to create rap music. When he hears that a rap superstar (Ludacris) is coming to town, Djay works a hustle to gain the rapper’s attention and hopefully get signed by a label.

Hustle & Flow was written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton and Stephanie Allain. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at the performances (particularly those of Howard and Henson), Brewer’s script and direction, and the soundtrack, which gave Memphis bred group Three 6 Mafia their first Grammy win. It was also a commercial success, grossing $23.5 million against a production budget of $2.8 million.

So, how could the film’s star claim to only have received $12k from the film and no royalties from his musical performances throughout the movie?

In the viral clip, Howard shared why the SAG-AFRTRA strike was important for actors as he made nothing from one of his biggest roles to date. He also commented on how the film’s producers used DJay as the credited artist for the music instead of him. Because they own the rights to the character, they profited by all of his musical performances as well.

Yikes! In the video posted to social media, Howard goes on to say that now he has to sue Paramount to get anything from the film.

Sad case, but hopefully motivation for actors and artists to handle the business upfront. You never know what might end up being a commercial success for years to come.

Check out the viral video below: