Stewart knocks Jolie off top with $34m earnings
The 22-year-old earned an estimated $34.5m (€27.5m) from May 2011 to May 2012 and pushed Jolie into fourth place.
Stewart is the youngest woman on the list by 16 years. The next youngest is Kristen Wiig, who is 38.
Cameron Diaz, who had a surprise hit with Bad Teacher, came in second with $34m.
“[Stewart[ is an up-and-coming star. She is earning a lot of money from one of the most successful franchises of all time. This is who you would expect to see right now,” said Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes’ Los Angeles bureau chief.
“This year you are seeing somebody young and at the brink of potentially great stardom sitting on the top of the list.”
Forbes.com compiled the list and estimated salaries by talking to agents, managers, and lawyers and based earnings on pay, profits, residuals, endorsements, and advertising work.
Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock, who largely took a break from filming after 2009’s The Blind Side, came third with $25m.
Jolie, who topped last year’s list along with Sarah Jessica Parker, dropped to the fourth spot with earnings of $20m while Charlize Theron, Stewart’s co-star in Snow White and the Huntsman who also appears in Prometheus, trailed at $18m, and rounded out the top five places.
Theron is in the middle of a major career surge that kicked off with the 2011 movie Young Adult. The film might not have earned a lot of money (it brought in only $23m) but it gave Theron the kind of buzz she hasn’t had in several years. Theron is also the high-profile face of Dior.
Parker, whose 2011 film I Don’t Know How She Does It brought in a disappointing $30m at the worldwide box office, slipped to seventh with a $15m salary.
But the actress still makes big earnings thanks to reruns of her HBO hit show Sex and the City and her best-selling perfumes like NYC and Lovely. Parker also gets paid to endorse Garnier hair products.
“She is almost earning more from her perfume and endorsement deals right now than from entertainment. That is true of a lot of women. They have these outside deals that are very lucrative. Angelina Jolie earns a lot from residuals, as does Sarah Jessica Parker,” said Ms Pomerantz.
In sixth place was Julia Roberts with $16m. She has reached that age where many actresses struggle to find good roles. Instead of taking everything that’s offered to her, Roberts has been picky about her projects but even those haven’t performed so well.
Meryl Streep, the most Oscar nominated actress of all time, was eighth with $12m. She won her third Oscar this year for The Iron Lady.
In ninth with $12m was Kristen Wiig. The Saturday Night Live star’s Bridesmaids earned more money than anyone thought it would: $288m on an estimated budget of $32m. Wiig is to co-star in her first big-budget film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, with Ben Stiller.
Former Friends star Jennifer Aniston just made the list in 10th place, earning an $11m salary.
Aniston’s biggest recent movie was Just Go With It, an Adam Sandler vehicle featuring Aniston as the nice girl. But she earned more praise for Horrible Bosses where she played very much against type as a sexually aggressive dentist. The former Friend got plenty of press this year thanks to her new relationship with actor Justin Theroux whom she met on the set of Wanderlust.
The top 10 actresses earned a total of $200m, according to Forbes.com, a lot less than the $361m total that the 10 highest-earning men made.
“It is nowhere near what men are making,” said Ms Pomerantz. “I think it will be a while until women see salary parity, if it ever happens. Women are paid less in every industry, not just in Hollywood.”
— Reuters
* 1. Kristen Stewart: $34.5m.
* 2. Cameron Diaz: $34m.
* 3. Sandra Bullock: $25m.
* 4. Angelina Jolie: $20m.
* 5. Charlize Theron: $18m
* 6. Julia Roberts: $16m.
* 7. Sarah Jessica Parker: $15m.
* 8. Meryl Streep: $12m.
* 9. Kristen Wiig: $12m.
* 10. Jennifer Aniston: $11m.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
