The Highest Paid Actors in 2020

Meryl Streep’s 2020 earnings have been coming from The Prom, Little Women and Let Them All Talk. She may not be the richest actress of all time, but she’s without a doubt one of the greatest. After all, she holds the record for the most Oscar acting nominations: a whopping 21.

Melissa McCarthy has been collaborating with her husband, director Ben Falcone, on movies like Superintelligence. She’s also starring as Ursula in a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which is set to be released in 2021. Hosting and producing Little Big Shots brings in the cash too and then there’s the star’s Seven7 plus-size clothing line.

Despite her cringeworthy "Imagine" video, not even Wonder Woman could escape the ravages of Covid-19: due to the pandemic, Wonder Woman: 1984 was put on hold. However, Gal Gadot has nothing to complain about. She’s received $20 million for Red Notice and upcoming projects include a Hedy Lamarr biopic. This year, she also replaced Jennifer Aniston as spokesperson for Smartwater.

Life after Brad Pitt seems to be treating Angelina Jolie well, at least as far as her bank balance is concerned: in addition to her roles in Come Away and The One and Only Ivan, her recent movies included Eternals, which got her a pretty decent paycheque too.

Truth be told, it’s been a long while since Jon Bon Jovi has acted in anything. Most of his money has come from his career as one of the world’s richest rock stars and for 2020, it’s been the money coming in from last year’s Bon Jovi tour that has put him in our top 20.

Of course she’s more famous for her music but a Best Actress Oscar nomination – and a Golden Globe Best Actress win have surely earned Lady Gaga the right to be called an actor too. While coronavirus put her Las Vegas residency on the back-burner, the superstar has still been making good money, mainly from her new album, Chromatica.

Kevin Hart has been proving that funny business can also be very lucrative business. His comedy specials on Netflix have been making him a decent income and Jumanji: The Next Level was a box office hit. His next movie, which he’s also producing, will be Fatherhood.

If you want to, a successful movie career can be one of those jobs that let you retire early. If you’re Jackie Chan, however, you’ll keep working even if you can afford not to: the action star made his movie debut in 1962, nearly 60 years ago. He’s had roles in three movies this year and wrote, produced and directed another and the upcoming Project X-traction should add to his earnings. Chan is also an entrepreneur with a vast array of business ventures and endorsements creating an additional income stream.

Even though Uncut Gems brought him praise from the critics and an Independent Spirit Award, it has contributed to only a small part of Adam Sandler’s income for 2020. The money is really rolling in from his new four-movie, $275 million deal with Netflix. The funnyman also commands $400,000 per stand-up gig.

Modern Family had made Sofía Vergara one of the richest sitcom stars in history. The end of the series meant that this year she collected her last paycheque for keeping us in stitches as Gloria. However, she’s also been making money as an America’s Got Talent judge, endorsements and business ventures like her jeans, which have been flying off the shelves at Walmart.

Being a social media influencer isn’t just one of the highest-paying jobs for Generation Z: 52-year-old Will Smith is firmly Generation X and is earning big money through his Instagram, YouTube and TikTok channels. Of course he’s been earning even more from his music and his movies like Bad Boys for Life and the upcoming biopic about Serena and Venus Williams’ dad, King Richard.

His musicals have brought Lin-Manuel Miranda a host of awards, including a Kennedy Center Honor and a Pulitzer Prize. The biggest Broadway hit of them all, Hamilton, has really added to his bank balance: Disney acquired the movie rights early this year for $75 million. He also has several film and TV projects that have been bringing in the big bucks, including the upcoming movies Vivo and In the Heights.

Her earnings from 2019’s Hustlers are only a fraction of what Jennifer Lopez has been making in the past year. She earned quite a bit from her music, even if she did February’s unforgettable Super Bowl halftime show for free. The upcoming Marry Me should bring her some new movie earnings. The star, known for her style evolution as much as her artistry, has also been making bank from endorsements and her popular fragrance line.

He may not be a household name in Canada – even if he has Canadian citizenship – but he’s huge in Bollywood. In fact, Akshay Kumar is Indian cinema’s highest-earning star, being able to command some $13 million per movie upfront. He’s now working on The End, which will be his first TV series and make him more recognizable outside of India.

When the eighth sequel earns you almost $20 million upfront, you know you have a hit movie franchise – and a cash cow. That’s what The Fast and the Furious has been for Vin Diesel. The latest big payday is for appearing in the ninth movie in the series. Unfortunately, Covid-19 meant he missed out on a huge chunk of profits for F9 as well as Bloodshot but he can at least look forward to some cash from the upcoming Avatar sequel.

Ben Affleck’s career has been a bit like his life of intermittently being one half of the most famous celebrity couples. One moment he's riding the crest of the fame wave and the next he brings us flops like Gigli, which thankfully brought an end to the Bennifer craze. And then he comes back with a bang. His earnings from The Last Duel and Hypnotic have put him firmly among the top earners in acting. Along with his old friend Matt Damon, he’s also been raising money for coronavirus relief.

He may have been one of the original New Kids on the Block but Mark Wahlberg has long since moved on from being Marky Mark. The acclaimed actor and former rapper is back on our screens in Spenser Confidential and the upcoming Infinite. He’s also been producing series like McMillions and Run This City and earns an additional income from investments in F45 Training and his family’s burger chain, naturally named Wahlburgers.

The movies Six Underground and Red Notice have brought Ryan Reynolds a cool $48.5 million. Add to that the upcoming A Christmas Carol and his earnings from co-owning Aviation Gin and Reynolds is Canada’s highest-earning actor of 2020.

She hasn’t been acting in a while but Ellen DeGeneres has been raking in the cash with her wildly popular talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Revelations in 2020 that the show is a toxic workplace prompted the star to apologize during the opening of the 18th season but haven’t really made a dent in her bank balance. Other income streams during 2020 include producing Little Big Shots, endorsements and her lifestyle and pet lines.

Commanding over $20 million per movie, The Rock has truly mastered the pivot. Do we even remember that he used to be a pro wrestler? His 2020 earnings so far have come from the movies Black Adam and Red Notice, a few TV shows and his clothing, shoes and headphones line, Project Rock.