List of highest paid film actors

Salaries for the world's highest-paid film actors currently range from US$20–30 million, but an actor can earn substantially more by deferring all or part of their salary against a percentage of the film's gross, known within the industry as a "profit participation" deal.

Highest earnings for a single production

Since not all salaries are made public, this is a non-definitive list of actors who have received $30 million or more as compensation for their services in a single production. Occasionally an actor's fee may cover multiple films, and they are included on the list if the films were filmed as a back-to-back production, as was the case for Keanu Reeves and The Matrix sequels. The figures are given at their nominal value, since earnings from profit-based deals are accumulated over many years, making it infeasible to adjust for inflation.

Highest-earning actors for a single production

Actor	Film	Year	Salary	Total income	Ref
Keanu Reeves	The Matrix Reloaded The Matrix Revolutions	2003	$30,000,000	$156,000,000	[1]
Bruce Willis	The Sixth Sense	1999	$14,000,000	$100,000,000	[1]
Tom Cruise	Mission: Impossible 2	2000		$100,000,000	[1]
Tom Cruise	War of the Worlds	2005		$100,000,000	[1]
Will Smith	Men in Black 3	2012		$100,000,000	[2]
Robert Downey Jr.	Avengers: Infinity War	2018		$75,000,000+	[3]
Robert Downey Jr.	Avengers: Endgame	2019	$20,000,000	$75,000,000	[4]
Robert Downey Jr.	Iron Man 3	2013		$75,000,000	[5]
Sandra Bullock	Gravity	2013	$20,000,000	$70,000,000+	[6]
Tom Hanks	Forrest Gump	1994		$70,000,000	[1]
Tom Cruise	Mission: Impossible	1996		$70,000,000	[1]
Harrison Ford	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	2008		$65,000,000	[7]
Jack Nicholson	Batman	1989	$6,000,000	$60,000,000	[1][8]
Leonardo DiCaprio	Inception	2010		$59,000,000	[9]
Johnny Depp	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	2011	$35,000,000	$55,000,000	[9][10]
Robert Downey Jr.	The Avengers	2012		$50,000,000	[11]
Cameron Diaz	Bad Teacher	2011		$42,000,000	[12]
Robert Downey Jr.	Captain America: Civil War	2016	$40,000,000	$40,000,000+	[5]
Robert Downey Jr.	Avengers: Age of Ultron	2015		$40,000,000	[13]
Leonardo DiCaprio	Titanic	1997		$40,000,000	[1]
Tom Hanks	Saving Private Ryan	1998		$40,000,000	[1]
Johnny Depp	Alice in Wonderland	2010		$40,000,000	[9]
Aamir Khan	Dangal	2016		$39,000,000	[nb 1][15][16]
Jim Carrey	Yes Man	2008		$35,000,000	[17]
Arnold Schwarzenegger	Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines	2003	$29,250,000	$30,000,000+	[nb 2][1]
Mel Gibson	Lethal Weapon 4	1998	$30,000,000	$30,000,000	[1]
Brad Pitt	Ocean's Eleven	2001	$10,000,000	$30,000,000	[1]

1. ₹257 crore ($39.4 million at 2017 exchange rates).[14]
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger received a $29,250,000 salary for Terminator 3 plus a 20% royalty on the worldwide box office gross over $380 million. The film ultimately had a global gross of $433 million.

Highest annual earnings

Forbes publishes yearly lists of the highest-paid actors and actresses based on total earnings from 1 June the previous year to 1 June the current year.

• Highest-paid actors/actresses of 2017[18]

  Rank	Actor	Earnings
  1	Mark Wahlberg	$68 million
  2	Dwayne Johnson	$65 million
  3	Vin Diesel	$54.5 million
  4	Adam Sandler	$50.5 million
  5	Jackie Chan	$49 million
  6	Robert Downey Jr.	$48 million
  7	Tom Cruise	$43 million
  8	Shah Rukh Khan	$38 million
  9	Salman Khan	$37 million
  10	Akshay Kumar	$35.5 million

• Highest-paid actors/actresses of 2018[19]

  Rank	Actor	Earnings
  1	George Clooney	$239 million[nb 1]
  2	Dwayne Johnson	$124 million
  3	Robert Downey Jr.	$81 million
  4	Chris Hemsworth	$64.5 million
  5	Jackie Chan	$45.5 million
  6	Will Smith	$42 million
  7	Scarlett Johansson	$40.5 million[20]
  	Akshay Kumar	$40.5 million
  9	Adam Sandler	$39.5 million
  10	Salman Khan	$38.5 million

• Highest-paid actors/actresses of 2019[21]

  Rank	Actor	Earnings
  1	Dwayne Johnson	$89.4 million
  2	Chris Hemsworth	$76.4 million
  3	Robert Downey Jr.	$66 million
  4	Akshay Kumar	$65 million
  5	Jackie Chan	$58 million
  6	Bradley Cooper	$57 million
  	Adam Sandler	$57 million
  8	Scarlett Johansson	$56 million[22]
  9	Sofía Vergara	$44.1 million[22]
  10	Chris Evans	$43.5 million

• Highest-paid actors/actresses of 2020[23]

  Rank	Actor	Earnings
  1	Dwayne Johnson	$87.5 million
  2	Ryan Reynolds	$71.5 million
  3	Mark Wahlberg	$58 million
  4	Ben Affleck	$55 million
  5	Vin Diesel	$54 million
  6	Akshay Kumar	$48.5 million
  7	Lin-Manuel Miranda	$45.5 million
  8	Will Smith	$44.5 million
  9	Sofía Vergara	$43 million[24]
  10	Adam Sandler	$41 million

1. Mainly from the June 2017 sale of Casamigos tequila.

See also

• List of highest-grossing actors

References

1. Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autrey, eds. (2010). George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-By-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. HarperCollins. pp. 616–617, 714–715, 824–825 & 832. ISBN 9780061778896.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. Masters, Kim (5 June 2013). "Will Smith's 'After Earth' Apocalypse: Who Loses Most". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
3. Borys, Kit (April 30, 2019). "Robert Downey Jr.'s Massive Payday Tops 'Avengers: Endgame' Star Deals". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
4. Shaf, Zack (July 10, 2019). "'Avengers: Endgame' Box Office Earns Robert Downey Jr. Additional $55 Million Payday". IndieWire. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
5. Graser, Mark (October 13, 2014). "Robert Downey Jr. to Join 'Captain America 3' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
6. Galloway, Stephen (26 February 2014). "Sandra Bullock to Make $70 Million (At Least) for 'Gravity' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
7. Pomerantz, Dorothy (10 June 2009). "Hollywood's Top-Earning Actors". Forbes. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013.
8. Thompson, Peter A. (1997). Jack Nicholson: the life and times of an actor on the edge. Carol Publishing Group. p. 214. ISBN 9781559724203. By 1994, it had reportedly reached $60 million.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
9. Newcomb, Peter (March 2011). "Hollywood's Top 40". Vanity Fair. p. 2. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
10. Sylt, Christian (22 July 2014). "Fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean Is Most Expensive Movie Ever With Costs Of $410 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 7 December 2014. One of the biggest costs of making On Stranger Tides was paying the production staff and actors with Mr Depp alone believed to have received $55 million for the movie.
11. Heath, Chris (April 2013). "Profile: Robert Downey Jr". GQ. p. 3. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
12. Kilday, Gregg (20 June 2013). "Sequel to Cameron Diaz's 'Bad Teacher' in the Works". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
13. West, Amy (9 November 2015). "Avengers Age Of Ultron salaries: Scarlett Johansson second highest earner after Robert Downey Jr". International Business Times. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
14. "Field Listings – Exchange Rates". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
15. Upadhyaya, Prakash (July 6, 2017). "Aamir Khan's remuneration for Dangal: This is the amount the actor takes home after China release". International Business Times. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
16. "Dangal brings Rs 257 crore Chinese bonanza for Aamir Khan". Hindustan Times. July 7, 2017.
17. Schuker, Lauren E. (2 April 2009), "Hollywood Squeezes Stars' Pay in Slump", The Wall Street Journal, archived from the original on 16 June 2013
18. Robehmed, Natalie (22 August 2017). "Full List: The World's Highest-Paid Actors And Actresses 2017". Forbes. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
19. Robehmed, Natalie (22 August 2018). "The World's Highest-Paid Actors 2018: George Clooney Tops List With $239 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
20. Robehmed, Natalie (16 August 2018). "The World's Highest-Paid Actresses 2018: Scarlett Johansson Steals The Spotlight With $40.5 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
21. Berg, Madeline (21 August 2019). "The Highest-Paid Actors 2019: Dwayne Johnson, Bradley Cooper And Chris Hemsworth". Forbes. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
22. Berg, Madeline (23 August 2019). "The Highest-Paid Actresses 2019: Scarlett Johansson Leads With $56 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
23. Berg, Madeline (11 August 2020). "The Highest-Paid Actors 2020". Forbes. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
24. Berg, Madeline (2 October 2020). "The Highest-Paid Actresses 2020". Forbes. Retrieved 5 November 2020.