What is Zach Galifianakis' Net Worth and Salary?
Zach Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor who has a net worth of $50 million. Zach Galifianakis is best known for his starring roles in comedy films like "The Hangover" trilogy and for hosting his own Emmy Award-winning Funny or Die talk show, "Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis."
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Zachary Knight Galifianakis was born on October 1, 1969, in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Mary Frances and Harry Galifianakis. His mother worked as a community arts center owner, and his father was a heating oil vendor. On his father's side, Galifianakis's family is from Crete, Greece, and on his mother's side, he has Scottish ancestry. He has two siblings: a younger sister, Merritt, and an older brother, Greg. After graduating from Wilkes Central High School, he continued his education at North Carolina State University, majoring in communications.
Galifianakis first began his career and entered the world of entertainment through television. He guest starred in the NBC sitcom "Boston Common" and had a two-week stint as a writer with "Saturday Night Live."
Success
In September 2001, Galifianakis appeared on an episode of "Comedy Central Presents". His segment included him performing a stand-up comedy routine and him playing the piano, among others. The popularity of his segment helped him land his own VH1 talk show in 2002, "Late World with Zach." He also appeared in the Fox drama "Tru Calling" as the character of Davis, as Frisbee in four episodes of "Reno 911!", and multiple appearances on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".
At the same time as his growing presence on television, Galifianakis also started appearing in films. He co-starred in the stoner comedy "Out Cold" (2001), followed by small roles and appearances in films like "Corky Romano" (2001), "Bubble Boy" (2001), "Heartbreakers" (2001), and "Below" (2002).
In 2006, Galifianakis starred in the Comedy Central show "Dog Bites Man" alongside A.D. Miles, Andrea Savage, and Matt Walsh. The show parodied local news coverage, with the stars traveling around performing in traditional scripted skits, as well as improvising some segments where they would interview unsuspecting people who thought they were being interviewed by a real news crew. He continued to appear in various shows on television, such as "The Sarah Silverman Program," "Tom Goes to the Mayor," and "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!". He also appeared in the films "Into the Wild" (2007) and "Super High Me" (2007) and starred in the independent film "Visioneers" (2008). In 2006, he appeared in Fiona Apple's music video for "Not About Love" and in Kanye West's 2007 music video "Can't Tell Me Nothing". Additionally, his 2006 stand-up special "Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion" is one of the first original programs released by Netflix.
Together with Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, and Maria Bamford, Galifianakis was a member of the Comedians of Comedy. They were a comedy group tour styled based on the likes of groups like The Original Kings of Comedy and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Together, they toured around the country, performing at live rock clubs instead of traditional comedy clubs so they could reach a different audience.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Beginning in 2008, Galifianakis started hosting his own web series on Funny or Die called "Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis." The format of the show follows him interviewing popular celebrities while they are seated between two potted ferns, and often, his interview style is awkward, inappropriate, bizarre, and/or uncomfortable. He has interviewed notable and well-known figures like Jimmy Kimmel, Michael Cera, Jon Hamm, Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper, Conan O'Brien, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Bruce Willis, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Bieber, Samuel L. Jackson, Will Ferrell, Hillary Clinton, and Former President Barack Obama. In addition to being the host, Galifianakis is also one of the show's producers. As a producer, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The show also spawned a Comedy Central television special, as well as the Netflix movie "Between Two Ferns: The Movie."
In what is perhaps one of Galifianakis's most recognizable and famous roles, he played the character Alan Garner in the hit comedy film "The Hangover" (2009). For his performance, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance. He went on to reprise the role in the sequels, "The Hangover Part II" (2011) and "The Hangover Part III" (2013). Other films he has appeared in include "Up in the Air" (2009), "Operation: Endgame" (2009), "Dinner for Schmucks" (2010), "Due Date" (2010), "The Muppets" (2011), "The Campaign" (2012), "Are You Here" (2014), "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" (2014), "Masterminds" (2016), "Keeping Up with the Joneses" (2016), "Tulip Fever" (2017), and "A Wrinkle in Time" (2018). He has also worked as a voice actor and voiced characters in animated films like "Puss in Boots" (2011) and "The Lego Batman Movie" (2017).
Hangover Salary
The four primary actors in "The Hangover" – Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, Zach, and Justin Bartha – were relative unknowns before the movie was officially green-lit. The studio behind the project was so concerned about the lack of star power that it came very close to killing the movie altogether. Thankfully (for comedy fans), the movie's director Todd Phillips was so confident in his chosen actors that he went to the studio and offered to give back $6.5 million in salary in exchange for back-end points. He also reminded the studio that those four actors were set to earn less than $1 million collectively.
The studio relented, and the first Hangover went on to make $470 million at the box office and $75 million off DVD sales. It was the highest-grossing R-rated comedy up to that point.
Amazingly, the studio never thought to lock in the four actors or Phillips for potential sequels. The group was therefore able to negotiate generous salaries and backend shares. When the sequel earned nearly $600 million at the box office, Todd Phillips earned another $70 million, and the four actors each earned $30 million.
In total, Phillips earned $150 million from the three Hangover movies, and the four primary actors earned $40 million.
Personal Life
Galifianakis married Quinn Lundberg in August 2012. Lundberg is the co-founder of the charity Growing Voices. Together, they have two sons, born in 2013 and 2016 respectively. He owns a farm in Sparta, Alleghany County, North Carolina. He splits his time between work and the farm.
In response to the passage of Texas H.B. 2, a state bill that placed restrictions on access to abortion that resulted in a large number of Texas abortion clinics closing, in January 2014, Galifianakis and his "A Night of a Thousand Vaginas" co-star Sarah Silverman set up a fundraiser to benefit the Texas Abortion Fund.
