Christina Applegate revealed on The View that her initial pay offer for Anchorman was offensive and below her male co-stars' salaries. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay supplemented her pay from their own earnings to secure her role as Veronica Corningstone. She described the experience as invaluable to her career.
Christina Applegate appeared on The View to promote her memoir, You With the Sad Eyes, where she shared details about her compensation for the 2004 comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The studio's original offer for her role as Veronica Corningstone, the female co-anchor clashing with Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy, was significantly lower than that of her male counterparts. Applegate stated, “When they came in with the initial offer, it was, you know, a little offensive. And I said I can’t. I know my worth, and I can’t do that. They wanted me bad enough, and they said, ‘Well, we’re gonna chip in.’ Thank God they did because it was one of the best experiences of my entire life.”
Ferrell and director Adam McKay contributed portions of their salaries to boost Applegate's pay, enabling her participation. She highlighted the film's improvisational training as a key benefit, noting, “It was such a lesson. I had never done improv before. Learning from that group of dudes… that is the masterclass that people pay for. Steve Carell, like, taught it. Adam McKay developed an entire new way of doing it with his group. To get in there and have that happen was absolutely magic and it’s been invaluable to me and my career.” The supporting cast included Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Fred Willard.
Anchorman, released on July 9, 2004, grossed $90 million worldwide and became one of the most quoted comedies of the early 2000s. It led to a 2013 sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, featuring Applegate again. In 2024, Applegate and Ferrell reunited on her podcast for the film's 20th anniversary. Ferrell recalled the first test screening scoring only 50 out of 100 due to an original ending where Veronica is abducted by a vigilante group, riffing on Patty Hearst's kidnapping. Reshoots, supported by Judd Apatow and funded by the studio, added five days of filming for a new ending involving pandas and bears, improving the film's reception.
