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)