For years, Hollywood has been dominated by male actors breaking the bank in terms of the money they make per movie.
Indeed, to get that massive paycheck rolling in, it’s a given that you must have starred in some stellar movies as part of your resume. Besides, don’t all directors want the best of the best? As commonly described, the crème de la crème…
Nevertheless, Hollywood has experienced a massive revolution in the last two decades. In fact, some of the leading women in Hollywood have taken up the mantle as some of the highest paid actresses (and overall actors) in the world!
This year marked no different. Unless you’re a big fan of Emma Stone! Yes, the highly revered Brit was edged out by a new female lead in town.
By who, you may ask? This year’s highest-paid actress is no familiar face, especially to Avenger’s fans.
Yep, the beautiful, scintillating Scarlett Johansson tops the list as the highest paid actress, raking in an impressive $40.5 million pretax earnings between June 1st, 2017 to June 1st, 2018.
Johansson is now the highest paid actress in the world
The Black Widow Strikes Again
Indeed, Johansson can credit her fat paycheck from her role as Black Widow in the Marvel’s Avengers that catapulted her to the top of the female list.
Her reward? Of course, a quadrupling of her 2017 earnings! Move over Emma Stone, Johansson’s not done yet!
Johansson is expected to kill it again next year as she’s anticipated to make it to the fourth installment of the series in 2019.
According to Marvel Studio producer and president, Kevin Feige, budget cost percentages have certainly skyrocketed with the Avengers particularly on the cast now.
Whereas earlier, the visual effects took a large chunk of the money pumped into making the movie.
Nevertheless, Feige says that he is happy with the setup because the current cast has become the main attractions for the movie franchise.
Edging out Some Prominent Names
Additionally, Johansson was able to edge out Angelina Jolie who raked in a massive $28 million to come in second largely because of her role in Maleficent 2.
Third on the list was Jennifer Aniston who broke the bank raking in $19.5 million despite the final episode of Friends airing 14 years ago.
Indeed, she manages to gain a lucrative paycheck thanks to endorsements from the likes of Aveeno, Smartwater, and Emirates airlines.
As a matter of fact, you can bank on her paycheck skyrocketing next year because she is poised to commence her Apple series together with Reese Witherspoon.
Speaking of Witherspoon who comes 5th on the list with a whopping $16.5 million, the two mega-celebrities will be earning a jaw-dropping $1.25 million per episode.
Other notable celebrities in the list include Gal Gadot thanks to her role in Wonder Woman
Lawrence on The List
Witherspoon fell short of gaining the 4th spot due to Jennifer Lawrence, who makes the list thanks to her role in the highly popular Big Little Lies.
Let’s also not forget her lead role in the Hunger Games franchise.
That being said, Lawrence saw her previous year’s paycheck stem primarily from her two lead roles in Mother! And Red Sparrow.
Despite the fact that the two movies seriously underperformed at the box office, it’s pretty obvious that Lawrence was smiling all the way to the bank with the massive paychecks she earned from both movies.
That being said, the top 10 highest paid actresses in the world raked in a whopping $186 million in combined earnings pre-taxes.
The data released on these earnings were from IMDB, Box Office Mojo, ComScore, and Nielsen.
Additionally, a number of interviews were carried out by individuals within the industry.
Nevertheless, all the figures provided were prior to taxes, as well as agent and lawyer fees.
Despite these massive payments, most female stars are still underrepresented and underpaid in Hollywood
Notable Names on the List
Other notable actresses that made it to the list include Australian sensation Cate Blanchett who came in at the 8th position with an impressive $12.5 million.
Iraeli beauty Gal Gadot also made it to the list in the 10th position, raking in $10 million primarily from her role as Wonder Woman that catapulted her to fame.
That being said, it is of worth note that female actors only constitute a meager 28.7% of speaking roles in films, as per data released by a 2016 study.
Indeed, the limited opportunity for roles means that it gets tougher for female stars to rake in the big bucks.
