Hollywood's Top-Earning Actresses

Hollywood's Top-Earning Actresses, Paychecks Get Better With Age

Gupshup publishes our annual list of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses. Generating big box-office bucks for the studios has some celebrities pulling in eight-figure paychecks this year.

This year’s top 10 leading ladies banked a collective $200 million, with 22 year-old Kristen Stewart earning an astounding $34.5 million and the #1 spot thanks in large part to the Twilight series mania. An impressive feat, yet when reading the list, the actresses’ combined earning power wasn’t the set of digits that struck me most–it was their ages. Five of the top ten screen icons on our list were over 40. After Stewart, the next youngest actress is 36 year-old Charlize Theron (#5) and the oldest is veteran actress Meryl Streep (#8) who is 63.

For women in the entertainment industry, talent is often defined far more by looks than acting ability, and youth appears to have greater value to the industry than having Oscar or a Golden Globe on your mantelpiece. Yet these actresses not only have bankable talent, but they also have staying power—an elusive quality in the fickle world of entertainment.

This year’s top-earning stars have collectively appeared in hundreds of movies throughout their careers. Meryl Streep alone can lay claim to a staggering 50+ credits to her name in addition to a record-setting 17 Oscar nominations. As with any industry, hitting your career stride comes at a certain point only after you have had a long string of experiences, ones which typically include more failures than successes. Charlize Theron, who originally planned to be a ballet dancer until a knee injury sidelined her dance career, labored away in relatively obscurity for the first decade of her movie career until she hit it big in 2003’s Monster.  Her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos vaulted her into Hollywood’s big league, earning her the prestigious Best Actress Oscar.

And in some instances, the choices you make after your first big career move can set the framework for success—or failure. Cameron Diaz (#2) had a hit right out of the gate with her 1994 debut in The Mask. Instead of appearing in another big studio movie, the 39 year-old actress decided to step back and spent the next few years appearing in small, independent movies, before she took on a role in the mainstream romantic comedy hit, My Best Friend’s Wedding, alongside her fellow listee, Julia Roberts (#6). What’s more, Diaz’ most recent film, Bad Teacher, is a lesson that you don’t need always need a blockbuster hit to make the big bucks.  With just a $20m production budget, Bad Teacher grossed $216m in sales, scoring huge profits for Columbia Pictures and a huge $34m paycheck for Diaz.

Despite their collective talent, each of these bankable actresses though has struck out far more times than they hit a Hollywood a home run. And how many times have we seen a one of these actresses appearing in some obscure credit as an extra or as an unmemorable character before they got their big break, fell into their groove, or figured out how to be one of Hollywood’s leading ladies? Saturday Night Live alumni Kristen Wiig (#9) made the transition from a relatively unknown television actress in her late thirties, to one of Hollywood’s most sought-after comedians with her performance in this year’s surprise hit Bridesmaids, which she also co-wrote.

 

To me, bankability extends beyond just talent and beauty, the things we expect to see in Hollywood. But it’s also the number of years mastering the task at hand – trying to figure out what makes a great role or a bad director, where they should focus their time, and of course, it can take sometimes take a painfully long time to get a break. Take, for instance, Sarah Jessica Parker (#7). Despite landing her first screen breaks in iconic ‘80’s films like Footloose and Girls Just Want to Have Fun, 47 year-old Parker didn’t earn her leading lady status until more than a decade later when she portrayed Carrie Bradshaw in hit HBO show, Sex in the City.

So what does this list say to me? Age is success — success takes time, and with time comes experience, wisdom, resilience…and it also helps to toss in a little bit of luck.

This year’s top paid Hollywood actresses have incredible brand equity. They not only have earned eight figure paychecks, but they’ve also have earned Hollywood’s most coveted honors. 8 of the top 10 leading ladies have at least one Golden Globe to their name. Equally impressive – half are Oscar winners.

But for every person that has built up that kind of brand recognition, there are hundreds who have been a one hit wonder. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t a lot of underpaid—and under-utilized—actresses 40 years and older. But what it does mean is that being young, pretty and talented isn’t anywhere near as important as having spent years on the job.

And in the entertainment industry, how much you earn is a precise reflection of how desirable you are to viewing audiences. So I found comfort in knowing that it’s not just me but also tens of millions of American moviegoers who will shell out their hard-earned cash to support films starring actresses in their 40’s and 50’s, versus the ones who are just starting out.  “Hooray for Hollywood!”