‘Purple Rain’: Apollonia Received a Small Paycheck for Her Iconic Role
When Prince fans think of Purple Rain, they think of his legendary album that accompanied the film. And they think of his on-screen love interest, Apollonia Kotero. Kid fell for her, Morris Day’s character became enchanted with her, and plenty of fans took a liking to her too.
The Lake Minnetonka scene is forever etched in people’s minds. Though Prince was the star in the movie, Apollonia played a major part, but she only earned a small amount of money.
Vanity was cast before Apollonia in ‘Purple Rain’
Prince brought Denise “Vanity” Matthews onto his team as part of his girl group, Vanity 6. He made her the lead singer, and the trio had a hit on their hands with “Nasty Girl.” But Vanity also had a budding career as an actor. She already had a few film credits under her belt when Prince’s management team offered her a role in Purple Rain.
According to Alan Light’s book, Let’s Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain, she turned it down over money. “They wouldn’t pay me enough money to go through with the crap I would have had to go through,” said Vanity.
Some reports stated that she requested $1 million, and the two sides could not come to an agreement. After she passed on it, hundreds of women auditioned for the part, and it went to Patricia “Apollonia” Kotero.
Apollonia earned $30,000 for ‘Purple Rain’
For her Purple Rain performance, Apollonia went topless, did steamy sex scenes, and jumped into below freezing waters for the Lake Minnetonka scene. When they shot one of the motorcycle sequences, the bike fell on her, and she suffered an injury. Blood poured out of her leg.
During a recent sit-down with VladTV, she shared that her paycheck for the film topped out at $30,000. Remember, the movie came out in 1983 with a budget of only $7 million.
“I made $30,000 for the whole movie, and I thought, ‘I’m rich. I am rich, I can buy my mom a house,’” said Apollonia. She also added that she received royalties from Purple Rain, but “very little.”
Morris Day once told Vlad that he made $50,000 for Purple Rain but used most of that money to pay his band who showed up to set each day.
Apollonia thought she’d die on the movie set
Though she detailed the motorcycle accident during her chat with Vlad, Apollonia opened up about her hypothermia experience on set. She explained it in a 2014 interview with The Current.
The night before shooting the “Lake Minnetonka” scene, it snowed in Minneapolis. The water was frigid, there was ice, and it took four takes to complete Apollonia’s striptease dip. An underwater stuntman helped her climb out because of the mud and ice.
After the fourth shot, she had to be taken to a tent where a nurse tended to her. Everyone realized she had hypothermia as she faded to black. But Prince provided her with some comfort. “And then Prince came in, because I remember feeling his warmth, he held me, and he says, ‘Please don’t die. Please don’t die, Apollonia.’ And his voice kind of cracked,” she recalled.
They called an ambulance for her, and despite the dangerous circumstances, Apollonia remembered that she only wanted to keep filming. These days, she chuckles about it. Fans can stream Purple Rain on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Apple TV, Roku, or Vudu.
