Jennifer Lawrence has been named the highest-paid actress by Forbes’ annual survey of Hollywood’s top-earning on-screen talent. The list is based on actresses’ income from June 2014 to June 2015. Lawrence raked in a whopping $52 million during this period. (The “Silver Linings Playbook” actress has come a long way from skinning squirrels in 2010’s “Winter’s Bone.”)
“Jennifer Lawrence can open movies like any male star,” Carey Mulligan told Women and Hollywood back in spring. The Sony hack revealed, however, that Lawrence’s pay did not reflect this indisputable fact. For her role in “American Hustle,” Lawrence received less money than all of her male co-stars. (This is Katniss Everdeen, for goodness sake.) Fortunately, Lawrence’s upcoming Sony sci-fi drama “Passengers” will see the actress paid more than co-star Chris Pratt. (Lawrence will make $20 million, plus 30 percent of the film’s profits after it breaks even, while Pratt will take home $12 million.) We bet Lawrence will never be shortchanged by Sony again.
Coming in at number two on Forbes’ list is Scarlett Johansson. The “Avengers: Age of Ultron” star earned $35.5 million. Melissa McCarthy, whose “Spy” earned rave reviews and mega bucks at the box office, landed the third spot on the list with $23 million. China’s Bingbing Fan is the only non-American (and non-white) actress to crack the top 18, with an income totaling $21 million. Closing out the top five is Jennifer Aniston with $16.5 million. If you’re surprised to see Aniston’s name on the list — her only recent starring role was in the low-budget indie “Cake” — bear in mind that endorsements deals count.
Here are Forbes’ top 18 highest-earning actresses, as announced on “CBS This Morning” and reported by Variety:
Jennifer Lawrence: $52,000,000
Scarlett Johansson: $35,500,000
Melissa McCarthy: $23,000,000
Bingbing Fan: $21,000,000
Jennifer Aniston: $16,500,000
Julia Roberts: $16,000,000
Angelina Jolie: $15,000,000
Reese Witherspoon: $15,000,000
Anne Hathaway: $12,000,000
Kristen Stewart: $12,000,000
Cameron Diaz: $11,000,000
Gwyneth Paltrow: $9,000,000
Meryl Streep: $8,000,000
Amanda Seyfried: $8,000,000
Sandra Bullock: $8,000,000
Emma Stone: $6,500,000
Mila Kunis: $6,500,000
Natalie Portman: $6,000,000
[via Variety]
