Didn't know that about the compensation thing (would make sense why we don't hear commentaries from the main actors more often I suppose.) I just assumed.

I think though it may well differ from instance to instance? I can't imagine Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman not getting paid but they are A-list actresses with powerful agents and can demand what they want.

FYI, Jodie Foster said that she was paid more to promote the movie The Inside Man than she was to actually appear in it. So doing commentaries may be something that's negotiated by the actors, covered under the rubric of promotional duties or - maybe sometimes it's just a labor of love?

Of course I'm just guessing.

Mostly I skip commentary tracks. Which means I prob miss some good ones but after too many dull ones, I'll survive.