How Sandra Bullock’s $51m earnings and Gravity role helped put actresses’ pay back on track
Sandra Bullock has topped Forbes’ annual ranking of the highest earning actresses with an estimated income of $51m, leading the first rise in earnings of the world's best paid actresses since 2010.
The total combined earnings of the top 10 stands at $226m, up 24 per cent on last year finally turning around a slump in actresses' earnings.
Despite the huge success of movies such as Twilight and the Hunger Games, which has seen Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart enter the annual list, and the draw of stars such as Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston over the last few years, overall the wages of the world's biggest actresses have fallen every year since 2010.
While, it’s well known that actresses are paid less than men – the combined earnings of actresses this year is nearly half that of the top earning actors which totals $419m – men's earnings have also been growing at a faster rate than women's. Actors' earnings have avoided suffering the same drop as women's, rising consistently since 2009 until this year.
While actresses' earnings finally rebounded, actors' earnings dropped nine per cent, shrinking the disparity between them, though it has yet to return to 2010 levels when the difference fell below $100m.
Bullock earned big bucks off the back of last year’s box office and awards smash Gravity, bumping up her paycheck so significantly that it makes her the third highest earning actor, male or female, in 2014.
This compares to last year when Angelina Jolie topped the list of highest earning actresses with £33m, but overall ranked only ninth among actors and actresses, significantly contributing to the overall rise in earnings.
The overall earnings also got a boost from young star Jennifer Lawrence, whose £34m earnings would have placed her at the top of last year's list.