Jennifer Lawrence Is Highest-Paid Actress for Second Year in a Row
Jennifer Lawrence is bringing in the big bucks -- but not quite as much as last year.
For a second year in a row, Forbes reports that the 26-year-old Oscar winner is the world's highest-paid actress, earning an estimated $46 million over 12 months. Lawrence's pretax income came largely to the profit cut she got from the final Hunger Games sequel and the paycheck she received for her role in the upcoming movie, Passengers. Lawrence is also the youngest woman on this year's list, and the only actress under the age of 30. That being said, Forbes reports that her earnings are down 11.5 percent from last year, when she earned an estimated $52 million.
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Melissa McCarthy is the second highest-paid woman in Hollywood, earning $33 million this year, thanks largely in part to her role in Ghostbusters. The 45-year-old star's income went up $10 million since 2015, putting Scarlett Johansson in the third spot with $25 million.
Jennifer Aniston takes the number four spot, with Forbes pointing out that a large sum of her $21 million earnings comes from endorsements, including Smartwater, Aveeno and Living Proof.
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Altogether, the world's 10 highest-paid actresses made a combined $205 million between June 1, 2015, and June 1, 2016. Half of the women on the list this year are over 40, though Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, Kristen Stewart, Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz all dropped off the top 10. According to Forbes, the earnings estimates "are based on data from Nielsen, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with agents, managers and lawyers."
While Lawrence has the highest income among her female peers, she penned an op-ed last October after learning that she was paid less than her male co-stars in American Hustle. "I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early," she wrote in a piece published by the Lenny newsletter. "I didn't want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled.' At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn't worry about being 'difficult' or 'spoiled.'"
Lawrence's Hustle co-star Bradley Cooper was among the many celebrities to throw his support behind the actress' call to end the gender pay gap in Hollywood. "There's a double standard in the whole world, yeah, for sure. This is just one aspect," he told ET at the time. "Anytime there's a place where a voice can come out and be outspoken, that's great. ... I think it is making a difference."
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