Jolie tops actress salary list
2008-12-06 14:27
Los Angeles - Oscar-winner Angelina
Jolie has proven again how handsomely it pays to combine
gun-wielding action with serious roles, as she topped The
Hollywood Reporter's list of highest-earning actresses on
Friday.
But salaries are plummeting for top actresses and still lag
the earnings of leading men, the trade paper said.
Jolie, 33, earned $15m for the action movie Wanted
this year and she could make $20m to star in a possible
sequel, it said.
Jolie played dramatic roles in 2007's A Mighty Heart and
in this year's Changeling. The mother of six and partner of
actor Brad Pitt last month talked about eventually fading away
from acting to spend more time with her family.
Oscar winner Julia Roberts, 41, claimed the No 2 spot
after a long absence from the screen, making more than $15m
for Duplicity, which comes out next year.
Actors are also earning less, with the exception of Will
Smith, star of blockbusters Hancock and I Am Legend, who is
riding high with up to $25m per movie.
"Everyone else's prices have gone down," an unidentified
talent agent told The Hollywood Reporter.
Reese Witherspoon, 32, who topped the female list last year
after winning an Oscar for her role in the 2005 movie Walk the
Line, dropped to No 3. She earned $14m for appearing
in the comedy hit Four Christmases that opened last week.
Cameron Diaz, Katherine Heigl, Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway
and Jennifer Aniston rounded out the list, with 39-year-old
Friends star Aniston earning more than eight million for the
comedy Marley & Me opening on Christmas Day.
Big stars such as Halle Berry and Nicole Kidman - both
Oscar winners - are no longer able to earn $10 million a
movie.
Compare that with Pitt and Johnny Depp, who according to
The Hollywood Reporter make between $15m and $20m
per film.