AJ Johnson Reveals She Only Paid $4,000 For House Party Role, Made More Money On Burger King Commercial

AJ Johnson first appeared on movie screens in the Spike Lee film School Daze. But her role as “Sharane” in the cult-classic House Party continues to live rent-free in the lives of many. The success of the House Party franchise would bring on many sequels, but noticeably, the character “Sharane” was absent from them all. AJ Johnson opened up about her experience on the Jemele Hill Is Unbothered podcast and expressed how much she got paid, which was LESS than her infamous Burger King commercial.

Upon its 1990 release, House Party went on to become a massive success. The film, starring Kid ‘n Play, Tisha Campbell, and a star-studded cast, had a budget of $2.5 million and achieved over $26 million at the box office. From there, House Party 2 and its third installment were respectively released in 1991 and 1994. Two more films in the franchise were released via direct-to-DVD.

AJ Johnson confirms to Hill that she was indeed only paid $4,000 for her work on the film. According to Johnson, filming took place over a span of two months, and everyone who was involved in the film made the same amount due to a “favored nation clause.” 

Johnson then explained that once the film came out and achieved its success, Burger King would come calling to acquire rights for certain scenes in the movie for their commercials. One of the commercials included the scene where Play tells Johnson’s character that they had to get Kid from jail, to which she only agreed to go once he promised her a trip to Burger King. According to the actress, they ultimately made more money from the Burger King commercial than the film.