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Will Smith tops Hollywood earners list with £40m salary... while Keira is the highest paid Brit with £16m
Updated 00:05am on 24 Jul 2008
In his latest film, Will Smith plays a superhero fallen on hard times. In real life, he has never had it so good.
Smith, whose latest role is in the blockbuster Hancock, earned £40million last year, more than any other Hollywood actor.
Box office king: Will Smith, pictured as an alcoholic superhero Hancock in his latest blockbuster, earned £40million last year
According to Forbes magazine, which compiled the annual rankings, the 39-year-old out-earnt Johnny Depp by some £4million.
Among the women, Britain's Keira Knightley, with £16million in earnings, was second only to Cameron Diaz, who pocketed £25million.
Miss Knightley was helped to her bumper wages with hit films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Oscar-nominated Atonement, and it meant she made the Forbes highest paid list for the first time.
Movie queen: Cameron Diaz (left) has leapfrogged previous number one Reese Witherspoon to become the highest earning female in Hollywood with £25million, while Keira Knightley (right) in the highest paid Brit with £16million
The 23-year-old actress was ranked as the second highest paid among female Hollywood stars, out performing A-list stars such as Jodie Foster and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Angelina Jolie, the most talked about star, was ranked 10th on the list of highest paid actresses with £7million.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe,19, shared top place on the list of highest teen earners.
With teen singing sensation Miley Cirus,15, he was paid £12.5million between June 2007 and June 2008.
Movie earners: Johnny Depp (left) took home £36million last year, while Eddie Murphy (right) pocketed £22.7million, thanks in part to voicing Donkey in Shrek The Third
The top ten paid actors are as follows. Last year's placing are in brackets alongside, or a hyphen denotes not in last year's list.
ACTORS
Will Smith - £40m (6)
Johnny Depp - £36m (3)
Eddie Murphy - £27.5m (-)
Mike Myers - £27.5m (-)
Leonardo DiCaprio - £22.5m (5)
Bruce Willis - £20.5m (-)
Ben Stiller - £20m (-)
Nicolas Cage - £19.5m (-)
Will Ferrell - £15.5m (-)
Adam Sandler - £15m (4)
They're in the money: Jennifer Aniston (left) earned almost double Angelina Jolie's salary with £13.5million, while Reese Witherspoon (right) slipped from last year's number one to fourth place with £12.5million
ACTRESSES
Cameron Diaz - £25m (8)
Keira Knightley - £16m (-)
Jennifer Aniston - £13.5m (5)
Reese Witherspoon - £12.5m ( 1)
Gwyneth Paltrow - £12.5m (-)
Jodie Foster - £11.5m (1)
Sarah Jessica Parker - £9m (-)
Meryl Streep - £8m (-)
Amy Adams - £7.25m (-)
Angelina Jolie - £7m (8)
Young and rich: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus both earned £12.5million last year
TEEN STARS
Daniel Radcliffe - £12.5m (-)
Miley Cyrus - £12.5m (-)
Ashley Olsen - £10m (1)
Lindsay Lohan - £3m (3)
Dakota Fanning - £2m (4)
Amanda Bynes - £1.75m (5)
Hayden Panettiere - £1m(6)
Vanessa Hudgens - £1m (7)
Abigail Breslin - £0.75m (8)
Tyler James Williams - (0.5m) (-)
Jojo Levesque - £0.5m (10)
Reader views (1)
Why,..oh why,...oh why would any studio or producer pay £16 million to hire Keira Knightley??!!...It absolutely boggles the mind beyond belief! The girl simply CANNOT ACT!!! Every film that she does she plays the same character,...i.e,,,pretty, pouty, upper class! I've never and will never go and pay my hard earned money to see a film of hers. Also, if you look at the returns of pictures she's made where she's the sole head liner - they've all BOMBED! She knows that she's got a limited shelf life, very little range and I doubt she'll be around in 10 years time, let alone be commanding a fee of £16 million in 10 years time!...
- Ali Sichilongo, London, 16/09/2008 13:25
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