Ken Jeong made $5 million to reprise his “Leslie Chow” role for the third and final time in The Hangover III .
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Jeong took home a cool $5 mil for his involvement in the Hangover finale, once again playing the character that arguably made him famous.
Jeong’s memorable villain from The Hangover was so popular that he was a shoe-in for the sequel (even if his presence didn’t make a whole lot of sense) and when the third movie was announced, a third round for Chow seemed inevitable.
“For me to be known for playing ‘crazy villain roles’ is — as a guy in real life who is a mild-mannered doctor — that’s the biggest accomplishment that I could think of,” Jeong told The Huffington Post of the role.
Indeed, Jeong actually started out as an honest-to-goodness doctor (still licensed as a physician in the state of California) while he pursued stand-up comedy.
The 43-year-old was a struggling comic until he was cast by Judd Apatow in a short but memorable role as an OBGYN in Knocked Up .
After that, Jeong took a supporting role in TV’s Community and appeared in T he Hangover films, which really helped launch his career.
The first two Hangover films made $467 million and $586 million across the world, with the third projected to take a $73 million opening weekend.
While some stars turn on the roles that defined their early careers, Jeong has nothing but love for Leslie Chow.
“I think other people would look at it like, ‘Oh, he’s typecast as the villain.’ I’m looking at it like, ‘Oh my God, I’m typecast as a villain! It’s amazing!’ ”
Are you a fan of Ken Jeong? Are you looking forward to The Hangover III ?
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[Image via: Dooley Productions / Shutterstock ]
