Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy has featured a slew of interesting characters over the course of just two movies. Many fans would argue that none is more interesting than the universally beloved Groot, and they’re not wrong. Over the course of just a few MCU films, the tree-like humanoid has grown from an adult to a baby to a teenager, yet his speech hasn’t evolved much outside of “I am Groot.” He also boasts fantastic powers and some of the most iconic movie moments in the entire MCU.
For F9 actor Vin Diesel⏤who voices the fan-favorite character⏤saying those three words was probably the easiest payday of his career. It’s hard to believe that he was actually handed money in exchange for repeating three words over and over again in a variety of different ways, but he was.
Diesel has voiced Groot in four Marvel movies⏤Guardians of Galaxy, Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame⏤but he hasn’t quite played the same character every time. In fact, he’s actually played three separate versions of the character. In the first GOTG, he played an adult Groot who sacrificed his life to save the Guardians by protecting them in an enclosure formed by his own body. That Groot left behind a branch that, by the film’s end, began to grow into Baby Groot.
Fast forward to GOTG Vol. 2 and we find that Baby Groot’s personality is a lot more mischievous and colorful than his predecessor. By the time we meet teenage Groot in Avengers: Endgame, we find a much smarter, more reserved and nonchalant Groot who’s more interested in his video games than actually fighting intergalactic supervillains. With each new version of the character, we’ve heard Vin Diesel say the line “I am Groot” in a couple of different ways, with only minor changes in the characters’ inflections and cadences.
Although those changes were minor, they added to Groot’s personality and carved out many memorable scenes that helped audiences fall even more in love with the character. With each film, Diesel got paid a crazy amount of money to say those three little words.
How Much Did Vin Diesel Get Paid For Groot?
According to Republic World, Diesel has already paid $54.5 million for voicing Groot. If you do the math, that means he took home a slick $13 million for every movie that Groot has been featured in. That’s a lot of money for a voice actor, especially one who says the same three words in every scene he films. If that math remains the same for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Diesel will have made around $67 million for his time as the Marvel character.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is rumored to be the final installment of the series and possibly the last time we see our favorite ragtag team of space outlaws. Cast members like Dave Bautista have already announced that it will be their last ride in the MCU, though Diesel has yet to speak about any plans to continue as Groot after GOTG Vol. 3.
Given how much he’s made voicing the iconic character already, he surely won’t have any issues returning if Marvel has more in store for Groot down the line. Can you blame him? It’s the easiest $13 million paycheck an actor could ever hope to make. For that reason alone, many of us would like to be Groot, too.