Hollywood can be a tough town for women, but these 10 actresses manage to bring in the big bucks. To figure out earnings we talked to agents, managers, producers and lawyers to determine what stars earned as upfront and back-end pay from June 2009 to June 2010. We also looked at earnings from things like clothing lines, perfume and makeup endorsements.
Sandra Bullock--$56 million
With two hit movies (The Proposal and The Blind Side) and an Oscar win, Bullock should have been sitting on top of the world. She is financially. With $56 million she’s the highest-earning actress. But a messy breakup with cheating husband Jesse James turned her into tabloid fodder. Bullock overcame adversity with news of an adoption and a return to public life at the MTV Movie Awards.
Reese Witherspoon--$32 million
Witherspoon’s face hasn’t been seen on the big screen since Christmas 2008, when she starred with Vince Vaughn in Four Christmases. She’ll return this holiday season with a new James Brooks comedy titled How Do You Know? co-starring Jack Nicholson, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson.
Cameron Diaz--$32 million
Thanks to her work in the Shrek films Diaz has a nice, steady income, but she also gets big bucks to appear in romantic films like the action comedy Knight & Day, co-starring Tom Cruise. Diaz also stars with ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake as a foul-mouthed educator in the film Bad Teacher.
Jennifer Aniston--$27 million
Box-office stinkers like Love Happens and The Bounty Hunter can’t stop America’s sweetheart. Aniston still gets tons of press attention and decent-sized upfront paydays for romantic comedies like Just Go With It, co-starring Adam Sandler. Aniston also earns from Friends re-runs and a lucrative deal with Glaceau Smartwater.
Sarah Jessica Parker--$25 million
Between the TV series and movie franchise, Sex and the City will keep Parker in Manolos for years to come. The actress also has a successful line of perfumes that brought in $24 million the U.S. in 2009. Parker is now helping to design clothes for fashion label Halston.
Julia Roberts--$20 million
Roberts is no longer the draw she was in the days of movies like Erin Brockovich and Runaway Bride. Instead she is focusing on more personal movies like Eat Pray Love, based on the bestseller by Elizabeth Gilbert. Roberts will star opposite Tom Hanks for the second time in Larry Crowne, about a man reinventing himself.
Angelina Jolie--$20 million
The mom of six is a constant tabloid presence with 38 magazine covers in the last 12 months. She also makes movies. Jolie lost some ground this year because she didn’t have a new movie in our time frame. But she continues to cement her bankability with big thrillers like Salt and The Tourist, co-starring Johnny Depp.
Drew Barrymore--$15 million
Barrymore made her directorial debut in 2009 with the film Whip It. Unfortunately it didn’t whip up much business at the box office, earning only $17 million globally. Still, Barrymore is working hard to build a career behind the camera. She was the executive producer on the successful film He’s Just Not That Into You.
Meryl Streep--$13 million
At 60 Streep is still big at the box office. She had two hits in 2009 with Julie & Julia and It’s Complicated, which earned a collective $350 million at the global box office. She also earned a record 16th Oscar nomination for her work as chef Julia Child. The actress has no firm plans for her next film.
Kristen Stewart--$12 million
The 20-year-old Stewart is recognizable to teens around the world as Bella, the human caught between a vampire and a werewolf in the Twilight series. The movies have so far earned $1.6 billion at the box office and made Stewart a star. She stretched her wings this year with the rock biopic The Runaways, playing Joan Jett.
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