It’s that time of year when we get to see who is scoring in the pay department in Hollywood. It’s no surprise to anyone that the highest paid actress in Hollywood is Angelina Jolie. She’s really the only female who can star in action movies with budgets topping $100 million. I can’t think of another woman who stars in big budget films. Yes, there are women in ensembles on big budget films, but the star of one? Just Angelina.
The more surprising thing is that Sarah Jessica Parker ties Angelina for the top. She is a savvy business woman, produced Sex and the City as well as starring in it, and it is the gift that keeps on giving.
Last year Sandra Bullock topped the list at $56 million because of all the money she made on The Blind Side and The Proposal. But last year’s dude at the top of the list was Johnny Depp and his score was $75 million (couldn’t find the male 2011 list), so clearly women are not getting deals as good as the dudes.
Two years ago Angelina was at the top of the list with $27 million. In 2010, she made just $20 million. And, aside from Cameron Diaz, the list is very white.
The rest of the top 10:
Jennifer Aniston — $28 million
Reese Witherspoon- $28 million
Julia Roberts — $20 million
Kristen Stewart — $20 million
Katherine Heigl — $19 million
Cameron Diaz — $18 million
Sandra Bullock — $15 million
Meryl Streep — $10 million
Here’s how the list was compiled:
we talked to agents, lawyers, producers and other industry insiders to come up with an estimate for what each actress earned between May 1, 2010 and May 1, 2011. Earnings consist of pretax gross income. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted.
Hollywood’s Highest-Paid Actresses (Forbes)