It’s no argument that the movie industry is doing very well for itself these days. Blockbusters are coming out that have thrown previous records out of the water in terms of profit, people actually watching it, and much more. There might not be many on online poker but I digress.
Needless to say, movies are doing quite well now. At least when you can see them in the cinema. But that’s an unfair exception, it’s not the industry’s fault of course.
Now if movies are doing well you can assume that the actors are doing well for themselves too.
That’s true too, of course, there are actors now who have become the most paid actors in recorded history.
But who are they? You might immediately assume it’s what actors are in whatever blockbuster you like most but that’s not always the case.
They might have been in the biggest movies of the year but that doesn’t mean they were the biggest actors.
Chris Evans
This one might not be the greatest surprise. He was the face of the largest film ever made. Born on June 13 in 1981 in Boston Massachusetts Chris Evans started his film career in very small films, mostly educational ones as a child actor.
He was seen in quite a number of movies both unheard of and popular through most of his career, including a large number of television shows. His first debut as a superhero though was as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four.
This was not his true debut as many of you probably know him from which was of course as Captain America in the first Captain America movie (titled Captain America: The First Avenger from 2011) and every subsequent Captain America film, feature, or cameo since then.
As of now, it seems that Chris Evans has finished his role as Captain America with a complete story and a fulfilling ending.
Starring as one of the practically main characters of the most successful film franchise of all time definitely helped Chris Evans get onto the list of most paid with a not insignificant sum of around forty-three million during his time playing Captain America.
Sofia Vergara
Maybe not quite as much as a household name as Chris Evans, Sofia Vergara is still an incredibly successful actor. She has been among the highest-paid actress for almost a decade straight.
Most of her money comes from sitcoms she has starred in for a number of years. She’s also had starring roles in multiple animated comedies like The Smurfs and The Emoji Movie.
She has made around forty-four million dollars early for her roles in these things.
Scarlett Johansson
Another more notable name in recent years. Scarlett Johansson was born in Manhattan in New York City. She had allegedly always known she wanted to be an actress her whole life and got performances in off-Broadway plays from a young age as a child actress.
Like Chris Evans, she made her way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Considering that it’s the largest film series in the last two decades and arguable the largest of all time it’s no surprise that there are going to be a lot of actors and actresses from it appearing in this list.
She made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010 in Iron Man 2 as Black Widow and recently got her own movie in the universe focusing on her character and her past.
She has made quite a bit more than the previous two actors and actresses on this list with a simple fifty-six million dollar yearly salary.
Adam Sandler and Bradley Cooper
This slot is tied between two popular actors, both making a nice fifty-seven million dollars a year.
Adam Sandler is famously known for his comedy movies that he has starred, written, and directed. He was born in Brooklyn to a very middle-class family of the time and has worked hard to get where he is.
Bradley Cooper is less of a comedic actor but had his largest break in acting from working on a comedy.
The comedy is specifically known as the Hangover, a movie about a group of friends that get blackout drunk and wake up the next day with no memory, a missing friend, and a massive quantity of absurd things and scenarios that drunk them got into.
He also got a nomination for an Academy Award for producing Joker.
Jackie Chan
Famous for his kung-fu movies Jackie Chan is really a household name at this point. He has performed in an astonishing more than a hundred and fifty movies, films, and television series.
He’s known for his comedic style of slapstick fighting and stunts.
On average he makes about fifty-eight million dollars a year but his net worth is estimated to be around three hundred million dollars.
A decade ago this would have made him one of the richest actors in the world but nowadays it only makes the top ten.
Akshay Kumar
This name might not be a household name to you but for a large percentage of the world, it certainly is.
If you aren’t from India you have probably never heard of this man. But he is one of the most successful actors in Bollywood, the Indian version of Hollywood.
He makes a reasonable sixty-five million dollars a year or so.
Aside from acting in movies he is also famously known for doing both his own stunts and doing work as a stuntman for other actors.
Because of the risks and relatively extreme stunts he pulls off for the movies he has earned himself the unofficial nickname of Indian Jackie Chan, at least he makes more money than him.
Robert Downey Jr
The next two actors get almost all of their fame and fortune directly from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Robert Downey Jr practically turned his life around with his role as Tony Stark in Iron Man and subsequently every movie featuring him as Tony Stark (which were a lot).
For a short time because of his percentage of royalties in the highest-grossing movie of all time he became the richest actor in the world. This changed but he is still in the top three.
Robert Downey Jr struggled with drug problems in his earlier life, he went through relapses, a few overdoses, and that time he got caught climbing through somebody’s window.
He’s pulled off an almost miraculous recovery and has been clean for years now.
Now after putting down his role as Iron Man and Tony Stark (at least for the foreseeable future) he can either retire for a bit (with money certainly not being a problem) or move onto other acting roles as he sees fit.
Depending on the year Robert Downey Jr makes almost a hundred million dollars a year.
Dwayne Johnson
I don’t know about you but when researching this list this one definitely surprised me.
The most consistently highest-grossing actor of all time is Dwayne “the rock” Johnson.
Yeah him.
Going from college football to wrestling to acting he has certainly pulled his career off well.
Made famous from his time in wrestling and earning his nickname there as The Rock he got his first “big break” in acting from his role in The Scorpion King where he played The Scorpion King.
Since then he has been in countless movies, almost everyone very financially successful. It’s gotten to the point where the rock is being simply cast as “the rock” playing whatever vague role the movie needs that involves being big and strong.
Not that there isn’t anything wrong with that, plenty of actors are typecast for their careers.
Now depending on the year Dwayne the Rock Johnson makes anywhere from ninety million dollars to a hundred to almost a hundred and thirty million dollars.
Definitely a lot of the big ones.