Dwayne “The Rock” Johson may be making more headlines these days for his (possible promotional stunt) beef with Fast 8 costar Vin Diesel, but today, he’s in the spotlight all by himself: The actor has topped Forbes‘ annual list of the world’s highest-paid actors.
Forbes actually revealed Johnson’s achievement earlier this year on its ranking of the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities of any sort; Johnson came in at number 19 overall, the first actor to make the cut. But now, we have a more detailed breakdown of just how impressive his $64.5 million annual haul actually is, especially when compared to the rest of the big-name actors on this new list.
Johnson blew away last year’s champ, Marvel MVP Robert Downey Jr., by a staggering margin of $31.5 million. (RDJ did rake in $33 million — good for eighth place on Forbes’ list — between June of 2015 and June of 2016, though, so you shouldn’t feel too bad for Iron Man.) And even action veteran Jackie Chan, who’s still making blockbusters in his native China, was no match for Johnson, coming in second to the wrestler-turned-actor with $61 million. Matt Damon ($55 million), Tom Cruise ($53 million), and Johnny Depp ($48 million) rounded out the rest of the top five.
As Forbes notes, there’s still a significant difference between the earnings represented on the actor rankings, and those on the actress rankings, an enduring symbol of Hollywood’s outdated views on salaries for its biggest male and female stars. This year’s highest-paid actress, Jennifer Lawrence, wouldn’t even break into the actors’ top five with her $46 million paycheck. Maybe once he’s done feuding with Diesel, The Rock can wage a war on the wage gap next.
(Via: Forbes)
