The lists of the highest-paid actors and actress of the past year are out and there are some familiar names and some surprises. For the women, Jennifer Lawrence continues to be the most bankable female star. Over on the men's side, there's been a shakeup and the three-time highest-paid actor is no longer ruling the box office, at least not this year. Robert Downey Jr. has slipped to eighth place, while Dwayne The Rock Johnson flexes his considerable muscle to grab the highest paid actor title.
When the lists of the highest-paid actors and actresses are combined though, something rather disheartening comes to light. There is still a considerable pay gap between the highest-paid men and women. Jennifer Lawrence's $46 million is just 72% of The Rock's earnings. Furthermore, while Lawrence is tops among the women, in the combined list, she's in sixth place. Eight actors made more than $20 million. Only four actresses did, and we had to take this list to 20 in order to feature more than two women. That's just not right in 2016.
These are the 20 highest paid actors and actresses in the world right now.
#20) Jennifer Aniston, $21 million
Jennifer Aniston can live off her Friends money for the rest of her life. This makes her one of the year in and year out regulars on the Highest Paid Actresses list without having to make many films. This past year she was part of the ensemble cast of Mother's Day. Aniston has long standing endorsement deals with SmartWater, Aveeno, and Living Proof.
#19) Scarlett Johansson, $25 million
Scarlett Johansson is raking in the bucks in the superhero and action genres. She's turned in roles in Captain America: Civil War and The Jungle Book this year. Johansson supplements her income with endorsement deals with Dolce & Gabbana and Soda Stream.
#18) Chris Pratt – $26 million
At 37, Chris Pratt is the youngest actor to make this list and he did so by doubling his 2015 income with an estimated $12 million upfront deal for Passengers as well as a hefty salary for Guardians of the Galaxy.
#17) Leonardo DiCaprio – $27 million
This was the year that Leo finally got his Oscar. His win for The Revenant came 22 years after his first nomination for What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
#16) Salman Khan –$28.5 million
Salman Khan is one of Bollywood's biggest stars. He has appeared in more than 80 movies since his breakout role in 1989's Maine Pyar Kiya. He produces as well as acts. Khan also hosts the Indian reality TV show Bigg Boss, India's version of Big Brothers.
#14) tie Mark Wahlberg – $30 million
Daddy's Home was Mark Wahlberg's big earner in the scoring period. Ted 2 didn't fare as well with "just" $217 million at the box office.
#14) tie Adam Sandler – $30 million
Adam Sandler has a sweet production deal with Netflix worth $240 million that bypasses the traditional studio system and gets his brand of comedies directly to his audiences at home on their couches.
#12) tie Akshay Kumar – $32.5 million
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar had his breakout role in 1992's Khiladi and since then has appeared in 150 films. Kumar also hosts the Indian reality TV show Dare 2 Dance, and has lucrative endorsement contracts.
#12) tie Brad Pitt – $32.5 million
Brad Pitt producers and acted in The Big Short, which won an Academy Award and brought in $133.3 million at the global box office. This is the first time since 2007 that Pitt's earnings topped $30 million.
#9) tie Robert Downey, Jr. – $33 million
Robert Downey Jr. was the highest paid actor of 2013, 2014, and 2015. This past year has been quieter for the Iron Man star. He had just Captain America: Civil War released during the scoring period.
#9) tie Shah Rukh Khan – $33 million
Shah Rukh Kahn is one of Bollywood's biggest stars. He typically earns multi-million dollar upfront fees as well as a healthy cut of the back end profits.
#9) tie Melissa McCarthy, $33 million
Melissa McCarthy has been a known entity for more than a decade to fans of The Gilmore Girls. Bridesmaids and Mike & Molly have proven her comedic chops and movies like 2015's Spy and 2014's Tammy proved she could anchor a big film on her own, which leads us to this year's blockbuster remake of Ghostbusters.
#8) Vin Diesel – $35 million
Vin Diesel ranks high on this year's list thanks to his latest paycheck from Furious 8 and Guardians of the Galaxy. This is the third time he's made the highest paid list.
#7) Ben Affleck – $43 million
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice may not have gotten good reviews, but it was Ben Affleck's biggest box office earner of hid career thanks to his salary plus back end deal.
#6) Jennifer Lawrence –$46 million
Jennifer Lawrence is this year's Highest Paid Actress again thanks to X-Men: Apocalypse and her fee for Passengers, a sci-fi film due in December. She also benefited from her profit sharing in The Hunger Games trilogy. She has an endorsement deal with Dior.
#5) Johnny Depp – $48 million
Johnny Depp may have had a disastrous year in his love life, but he killed it at the box office thanks to his latest turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
#4) Tom Cruise – $53 million
Tom Cruise nabbed his spot on this list thanks to 2015's Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. The five part film series has grossed nearly $2.8 billion worldwide.
#3) Matt Damon – $55 million
Matt Damon's turn in The Martian was his year's biggest success. The film grossed $630.1 million on a budget of $108. The return of Jason Bourne also helped Damon's bank account.
#2) Jackie Chan – $61 million
Jackie Chan hasn't made a U.S. film in years, but he is the king of China's growing box office. Chan starred in the latest installment of the Monkey King franchise.
#1) Dwayne Johnson – $64 million
This former professional wrestler turned actor is Hollywood's current go-to action hero. Thanks to the success of the latest Fast and Furious film as well as the surprise hit San Andreas, The Rock grabbed the top spot.
