Emma Stone becomes the world's highest-paid actress
“La La Land” -- the city and its celluloid namesake -- has been very kind to Emma Stone. At just 28 years old, the Hollywood star is this year's highest-paid actress, banking $26 million pretax in our 12 month scoring period.
Stone has her earnings from the movie-musical to thank for the bulk of her payday, which also won her a Best Actress Oscar. Her portrayal of Mia, an aspiring actress and barista, garnered rave reviews and goosed the film to $445.3 million at the global box office.
She bested Jennifer Aniston (No. 2; $25.5 million) who continues to bank millions more than a decade after the conclusion of “Friends”, thanks to regular roles in movies such as “The Yellow Birds”. But Aniston, 48, makes most of her money by endorsing the likes of Emirates airlines, Smartwater and Aveeno. Hair-care line Living Proof, which she owned a stake in, was sold Unilever for an undisclosed amount in December 2016, adding to Aniston's bottom line.
Former top-ranked Jennifer Lawrence comes in at no. 3, notching just over half her 2016 total. But even that amounts to $24 million. Without a “Hunger Games” movie, most of Lawrence's paychecks came from forthcoming Darren Aronofsky thriller “Mother!”, “Red Sparrow” and a longstanding Dior endorsement. Melissa McCarthy (no. 4; $18 million) and Mila Kunis (no. 5; $15.5 million) round out the top five.
Together, the world's 10 highest-paid actresses tallied a combined $172.5 million between June 1, 2016 and June 1, 2017, before fees and taxes. Earnings estimates are based on data from Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders. The list examined actresses the world over, but no stars from Asia made the cut, as Fan Bingbing and Deepika Padukone dropped off due to quieter years.
Emma Watson (no. 6) is this year's sole newcomer, after depositing her paycheck for “Beauty and the Beast”, which grossed $1.26 billion to become the top-grossing movie of the year so far. Though tech drama “The Circle” flopped, she managed to make $14 million in the time frame, thanks to Disney.
This year, three women breached the $20 million mark, compared to four women in 2016. Notably absent this year: Scarlett Johansson, who failed to earn above the $11.5 million cut off for this year's list.
Their success remains remarkable considering that female characters fill only 28.7% of all speaking roles in film according to a 2016 study. Roles for women above 40 are even fewer and farther between, which makes it all the more notable that 60% of this year's list members are over the age of 40. These women have forged their own roles, such as 42-year old “Atomic Blonde” producer and star Charlize Theron (no. 6; $14 million) who spent five years developing the spy project.
Source: Forbes
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