10 Highest Paid Movie Actors Of All Time

Summary

• Hollywood’s biggest actors rake in massive paydays for iconic roles, with some earning upwards of $100 million for a single film.
• 2023’s SAG-AFTRA strike highlighted the disparity in actor compensation, with many professionals not making millions like the top earners.
• A-list stars like Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, and Sandra Bullock have negotiated lucrative deals that have resulted in huge paydays for their performances.

The biggest names in Hollywood earn some enormous paydays for their biggest roles which creates a lot of curiosity about who is the highest-paid actor of all time. 2023 saw the historic SAG-AFTRA strike shutting down Hollywood over disagreements about fair compensation, a reminder that the majority of professional actors don’t make millions of dollars. The same can’t be said for the other end of the scale though, as the highest-paid movie actors in Hollywood earn some incredible sums.

Unsurprisingly, the collection of the highest-paid actors of all time is a roster of the biggest names in the business, with A-list superstars and Oscar winners. The roles for which these actors have received their biggest paydays vary from award-winning dramas to ambitious sci-fi thrillers to superhero adventures. In some cases, the highest-paid actors in Hollywood earned their largest take-homes for reprising roles in hit franchises, while others took risky bets on their movie earning more than expected. The amount of money these actors earn is hard to believe but their roles remain as iconic as ever.

10 Tom Hanks – Forrest Gump (1994)

$60 million

Tom Hanks earned $60 million for his star performance in the Robert Zemeckis movie Forrest Gump. According to Entertainment Weekly, Hanks had a contract that determined his final salary based on the performance of the movie. Since Forrest Gump generated roughly $680 million at the global box office, Hanks was able to walk away with a major payday that equaledjust under 10% of the film’s total earnings. Hanks negotiated for a similar pay structure on Saving Private Ryan, for which he reportedly earned somewhere between $30-40 million for that movie alone.

The success of Forrest Gump also led to Hanks demanding a high salary for future movies with him earning $20 million for the likes of You’ve Got Mail, Cast Away, and The Green Mile (via Celebrity Net Worth). While Hanks has largely stayed away from big franchises outside of his voice work in the Pixar movies, his starring role in the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code earned him an $18 million payday as well as profit sharing (via Deadline).

Even when he is not in the lead role, the actor can command an impressive payday. Hanks was paid $8 million for his supporting role in Elvis while his costar Austin Butler, who played the titular music legend, was only paid $700,000.

Tom Hanks’s Notable Paydays:

9 Adam Sandler – Murder Mystery (2019)

$62.5 million

Adam Sandler and Netflix made a deal for the actor to make four movies with the streaming service which ended up scoring him a huge payday (via Forbes). The deal guaranteed Sandler a whopping total of $250 million, which means that he will have earned $62.5 million for each of the movies that are part of the contract. Sandler’s partnership with Netflix has produced 2020’s Hubie Halloween, 2022’s Hustle, and 2023’s Murder Mystery 2. Sandler renewed the original 2014 Netflix deal in 2017, indicating that he has made a $62.5 million salary from eight separate movies.

The salary earned Sandler the title of the highest-paid actor of 2023 (via Forbes), beating out big stars like Margot Robbie and her huge hit with Barbie. Sandler’s Murder Mystery 2 costar Jennifer Aniston also landed on that list with her $42 million payday. It is not the first time Sandler has topped such lists either as he became the highest-paid actor of 2002 with his $47 million for Mr. Deeds (via The Guardian).

Adam Sandler’s Notable Paydays:

8 Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)

$65 million

Before Harrison Ford’s time as Indiana Jones ended in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, he earned a staggering amount for his return to the role in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Ford reportedly took a major pay cut for his appearance in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny but raked in a sizable salary for Indiana Jones 4.

According to Men’s Health, Harrison Ford received a major payday of $65 million from Paramount to return for the highly-anticipated fourth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. The deal encouraged Ford to reemerge out of semi-retirement and may have ignited the spark for him to continue his acting career into his eighties.

Of course, the Indiana Jones movies are just one of several big franchises that Ford is a part of and which have earned him big paydays. Another movie that saw Ford reprising one of his iconic roles was as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Ford was the highest-paid actor in the new Star Wars sequel with a reported $25 million. Newcomers like Daisey Ridley and John Boyega were reportedly paid six-figure salaries while Ford’s original costars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher earned lower seven-figure salaries (via Variety).

Harrison Ford’s Notable Paydays:

7 Johnny Depp – Alice In Wonderland (2010)

$68 million

Even though he was not in the main role, Johnny Depp earned $68 million for playing the Mad Hatter in the 2010 live-action Alice in Wonderland. The movie brought together Depp and Tim Burton again in a collaboration that previously generated classics such as Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

According to The Telegraph, Depp was paid £50 million, which was the equivalent of $68 million, making him the highest-paid actor in Hollywood in 2010 thanks to his other role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

While Depp wasn’t a huge box office star by the time he played Jack Sparrow for the first time, he still earned $10 million for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl. Depp went on to make $55 million for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, helping to make it one of the most expensive movies of all time.

Johnny Depp’s Notable Paydays:

6 Sandra Bullock – Gravity (2013)

$70 million

Sandra Bullock was paid $20 million upfront for her role in the epic space film Gravity but was able to earn much more thanks to her contract whichsecured her 15% of the total box office revenue. Bullock raked in over $70 million for this single performance (via THR).

Because of the film’s success at the global box office, generating over $700 million in 2013, Bullock was able to bring home a total paycheck that was more than three times her original salary. Her achievement represents another example of actors betting on themselves and their movies at the box office.

Bullock has been a hugely bankable Hollywood star with her record-breaking salaries going back several years and extended to even her most recent projects. 2009 was a big year for Bullock with both the hit rom-com The Proposal and her Oscar-winning turn in The Blind Side helping her to earn a combined $56 million (via Forbes). She continued to fetch a high price with her salary for 2022’s The Lost City at $20 million.

Sandra Bullock’s Notable Paydays:

5 Robert Downey Jr. – Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

$75 million

Robert Downey Jr. earned $75 million for his role as Iron Man/Tony Stark in Avengers: Infinity War. It makes sense that the lead actor in one of the highest-grossing franchises of all time would individually make one of the biggest salaries for a single film. Downey Jr. reportedly has made roughly $435 million from his involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which started with 2008’s Iron Man and ended with Downey Jr’s final Iron Man appearance in Avengers: Endgame (via The Daily Mail).

Appropriately, as he was the actor who kickstarted the MCU, Downey Jr. was paid more than his Avengers costars for the final movie with Chris Evans earning $20 million, while the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth earned $15 million. Downey Jr.’s MCU projects outside of the main Avengers movies also earned him some big paydays, including $75 million for his Iron Man 3 solo work and $40 million for his supporting role in Captain America: Civil War (via Variety).

Robert Downey Jr.’s Notable Paydays:

4 Tom Cruise – Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

$75 million

Tom Cruise earned $75 million for his role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (via Forbes). This figure was given to Cruise in order for him to successfully revitalize the Mission: Impossible franchise after the lackluster responses to its second and third installments, an objective which Cruise achieved with the massive success of 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

While Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One disappointed at the box office, both Cruise and the franchise remain a huge financial draw which will hopefully rebound with the upcoming eighth movie. Cruise made a reported $12 million for the seventh movie which is far shy of his other record-breaking salaries for the franchise. Cruise was reported to have earned $70 million for the first Mission: Impossible movie and $100 million in total for Mission: Impossible 2, according to the book George Lucas’s Blockbusting by Alex Ben Block, and Lucy Autrey Wilson.

Tom Cruise’s Notable Paydays:

3 Keanu Reeves – The Matrix (1999)

$83.3 million

Keanu Reeves earned $250 million for all of The Matrix movies, which equates to $83.3 million for each. Reeves once made in the tens of millions upfront from his movies before taking a share of the total film’s profits, which is how he was able to achieve such enormous totals for his Matrix trilogy.

Reeves’ more recent salaries for his John Wick films are determined in part by an ownership stake in his successful franchise. These salaries continue to prove the actor is a massive box-office draw at this stage in his career. Looking at Reeves’ salaries for the John Wick movies highlights the journey of the franchise as well. He was reportedly paid between $1-2 million for the relatively small-scale original movie. By the time Reeves seemingly closed the chapter on the franchise with John Wick 4, he was earning $15 million for the role.

Keanu Reeves’ Notable Paydays:

2 Will Smith – Men In Black 3 (2012)

$100 million

Will Smith earned $100 million as part of a deal that combined upfront salary with a cut of the movie’s gross for Men in Black 3. Smith has become one of the highest-paid consistent actors in Hollywood. At the peak of his career, Smith was reportedly earning anywhere from $20-30 million per movie, which isn’t much compared to the $100 million he was able to secure for Men in Black 3. The actor got paid just $5 million for the original Men in Black film.

His $100 million Men in Black 3 contract is the highest-paid single movie payout of all time. It is not just the big-budget sequels that have earned Smith his biggest paydays. Smith’s Oscar-winning turn in the real-life sports drama King Richard saw the actor get a $40 million payday. The controversy of his infamous incident at that Oscar ceremony clearly hasn’t affected his ability to command a big payday as Smith earned $25 million for his latest role in Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

Will Smith’s Notable Paydays:

1 Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

100+ million

Tom Cruise has remarkably made more than $100 million from his one performance in Top Gun: Maverick alone. In the best case of an actor betting on himself, Cruise accepted only $13 million upfront to reprise his role as Maverick from the original 1986 movie Top Gun. The mega-movie star orchestrated a prolific backend deal that has allowed him to earn more than $100 million at the box office thanks to the movie’s noteworthy success.

Cruise remains the highest-paid movie actor of all time and has likely set a new precedent that even he will find difficult to outperform. Interestingly, this is not the first time the actor has earned $100 million for a single project. His second movie with Steven Spielberg, War of the Worlds, was another massive box office hit that earned the same astronomical sum that has even dwarfed Cruise’s other big paydays.