Sandra Bullock tops Forbes highest-paid women list

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock has topped the annual Forbes list of the highest paid female actors in the world, thanks largely to the box office success of Oscar-winning space drama “Gravity”.

Bullock's $51m haul over the past 12 months puts her way ahead of the chasing pack, which is led by Jennifers -- Lawrence and Aniston. Bullock last topped the list in 2010, with an estimated $56m, off the back of hit films “The Blind Side” and “The Proposal”.

Lawrence takes second place with $34m this year, thanks to the Hunger Games movies and a high-profile supporting role in superhero sequel “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. Her three Oscar nominations to date and a win last year for indie romance “Silver Linings Playbook” have made her one of the most powerful actors in Hollywood at a remarkably young age

Jennifer Lawrence

of 23. Aniston, 45, takes third place with $31m thanks to the success of comedies such as “We're the Millers” and “Horrible Bosses”. Gwyneth Paltrow lands in fourth place this year with $19m, thanks largely to the $1bn box office success of superhero movie Iron Man 3, in which she played Pepper Potts. Last year's top female actor, Angelina Jolie, is fifth this year with $18m. Forbes included her upfront fee for Disney fantasy Maleficent in their 2013 calculations.

Jennifer Aniston

The next four places on the list are held by Cameron Diaz ($18m) and a trio of women who have made their earnings playing supporting roles in superhero movies: Scarlett Johansson from “The Avengers” ($17m), Amy Adams from “Man of Steel” ($13m) and Natalie Portman from “Thor: The Dark World”. Kristen Stewart, the list's top earner only two years ago thanks to earnings from the “Twilight” films, slipped down to 10th spot this time around with $12m.

Bullock's impressive earnings mean she would have made it to third place, behind only Robert Downey Jr and Dwayne Johnson, on a combined list of male and female actors. However, Forbes estimates that members of its female top 10 earned just $226m, compared to the $419m haul taken by the top 10 men, between June 2013 and June 2014.

Source: Guardian