Angelina Jolie made £16.5 million is the past year, making her Hollywood’s top earning actress. She pipped her partner Brad Pitt’s ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, who raked in £15.3 million, a study by Forbes showed.
Most of Jolie’s income came from her share of the profits from the action film Wanted, but she was also paid a large upfront sum for her role in Salt – about a CIA officer who is accused of being a spy and goes on the run.
Aniston earned most of her millions from the romantic comedy Marley and Me and her upcoming film The Baster – about a woman who gets pregnant using a turkey baster.
“Aniston also still earns money from (reruns of TV series) Friends and she gets a nice paycheck shilling for Glaceau’s SmartWater,” Forbes said.
Meryl Streep came in at number three with £14.7 million, most of which came from her role in Mamma Mia, while Sarah Jessica Parker was ranked fourth with £14 million in earnings following the movie version of TV series Sex and the City.
Cameron Diaz rounds out the top five, banking £12.2 million between June 2008 and June 2009.
Forbes.com said it spoke to agents, managers, producers and lawyers to work out what actresses were paid upfront for movies they are currently shooting and what pay they might have earned after a movie hit the theaters.
Money earned from perfume or clothing lines was also taken into account.
“As is still typical for Hollywood, our actresses earned significantly less than their male counterparts,” Forbes said, adding that the top earning male actor, Harrison Ford, made £40 million.
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