Nun actor sues Warner Bros. for making a habit of not paying her
Bonnie Aarons, who plays the infamous hissing demon Valak, accuses WBD of withholding her cut of the convent
Aux News Warner Bros
Nuns are all the rage these days, with Mrs. Davis and Derry Girls bringing piety to TV and Warrior Nun and The Nun II launching religious warfare to cinemas. But one nun is having none of it.
Bonnie Aarons, the actor who plays the demon nun Valak in The Nun, The Conjuring II, and the upcoming Nun II, is suing Warner Bros. Discovery, New Line Cinema, and Scope Productions over merchandise revenue from her role as the big bad of The Conjuringiverse. The A.V. Club has contacted Warner Bros. Discovery and New Line Cinema for comment.
Aarons’ lawyers argue that her character’s success is based on the actor’s likeness, quoting WB executive and Conjuring producer Peter Safran, who said, “The moment we saw [Ms. Aarons], with the unique geography of her face, everybody said: ‘This is exactly who we want; this is who it has to be.’” Since her appearance in Conjuring 2, the character has spawned a spin-off, which grossed $365 million worldwide, as well as “all manner of merchandise, including toys, dolls, decorations, pins, jewelry, t-shirts, socks, bedding, costumes, drinkware, and posters all using Ms. Aarons’ likeness,” the lawsuit states. However, while WBD was producing an ungodly amount of Nun merch, Aarons alleges she only received $71,500 for her work in The Nun. Her contract stipulates “the opportunity for additional compensation through box office bonuses” and that she would receive a cut of the gross receipts from “merchandise exploiting Ms. Aarons’ likeness.” That did not happen, according to her lawyers, who accuse the studios of obscuring the “true amount of Ms. Aarons’ rightful share of merchandising revenues, all while continuing to exploit her.”
Aarons was already a screen icon before becoming a common thread across the Conjuring movies. In 2001, she played the scariest character in film history: Mulholland Drive’s “Bum” behind Winky’s diner. But her nun work transcends horror. The actor also appeared in two episodes of Mrs. Davis, offering credibility to the fledgling nunnery.
Aside from Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s Ed and Loraine Warren, Valak is arguably the most successful character in the franchise. Look, we know Annabelle starred in three solo movies and appeared in a couple of Conjurings, but The Nun remains the highest-grossing movie in the franchise. Not bad for a character shoehorned into The Conjuring 2 after director James Wan deemed the original monster “too out of left-field for the film.”
28 Comments
So no actors have sued Warner Bros.?
No, NUN actor has sued Warner Bros.
Right, if none actors are suing, no one in the acting profession is suing Warner Bros.
No! NUN actor! NUN!
Yeah, alright, I hear you. Absolutely NO actors have sued Warner Bros.
That’s NOT what I’m…
Geez, why are you so invested in this? Do you like, want an actor to sue Warner Bros.? Or some actors? Why do you need Warner Bros. in court so bad?
Her face is iconic at this point, give her her damned money!
Warner Bros: No ❤️
Exactly. There’s a massive reason that the entertainment industry is in the middle of a massive strike, and it isn’t because studios have been treating folks fairly.
Her contract stipulates “the opportunity for additional compensation through box office bonuses”That’s some wishy-washy language right there.Maybe she should be suing her lawyer/agent.
Yeah. I’m no lawyer, but FFS, even I would have caught that and said “hey, this needs to be specified better”.
in all fairness, this is one line of text taken from her contract, which is most likely many pages long.
We can’t say for sure if more details on possible compensations are mentioned ( or not ) in the rest of the contract.
I don’t think her lawyers would decide to go against WB with only that line.
I know people say a lot of bad things about modern AVC, but this was an absolute A+ headline job, Schimkowitz.
I see what they did there.Because a see is the area over which a bishop has jurisdiction, and nuns and bishops are both oh never mind…
….. Jesus, I’m ashamed of not catching that until this comment.
AVC 2: Back in the Habit
No praise until we get confirmation the writers pen their own headlines.
Somebody already made this joke about Father Jack
In 2001, she played the scariest character in film history: Mulholland Drive’s “Bum” behind Winky’s diner.You just blew my mind.
…holy shit
“Unique geography of her face” is a euphemism I’ll have to remember.
Perfect description of Rossy de Palma.
HOLY SHIT, she’s that thing behind the dumpster in Mulholland Drive?? That scene scared the absolute hell out of me. I still won’t watch that part to this day.
Am I emotionally void? That wasn’t even a tiny bit frightening for me. The way the camera kept focusing on the one spot kinda gave it away that something/someone was about to appear. Ruined it in my opinion if they were trying to be scary
Lol no not at all. I think what made it scary for me was the telling of the guys story and then walking out and seeing what was in his dream that he kept having. I haven’t seen that scene in years so I don’t’ know if I would find it scary now, but back then it really got to me.
Still hits me. Fischler does such a good job setting up the dread, and Lynch’s little camera movements make it hypnotic.
I hope the strikes and lawsuits rework the industry towards compensating the actual workers better and not just a handful of hundred millionaire execs for the future.
I highly doubt that will ever happen. Execs will ALWAYS find ways to screw the people who work for them. Always.
Warner Bros single-handedly destroying the movie industry by treating literally everyone involved like shit…
Best headline ever.
NUN FOR YOU, MA’AM.
Should have read that contract better. It didn’t say that she would be playing the Nun, its said they would be paying her None.
The theater I saw Barbie in showed the trailer for this before the movie. The little kids in the audience were mortified, and it was both hilarious and a sign that little kids shouldn’t have been seeing Barbie.