Highest Paid Actors in Hollywood for 2014

Actors probably have the coolest jobs in the world. They get to be famous, star in a blockbuster movie, get a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and bring home a big, fat paycheck. But do not get it wrong; not all actors reach the movie superstar status. Each of the Hollywood superstars who are making big money in the industry now had to claw their up from minor roles to career-changing acting jobs. But, how can we tell if the actor has made it big in Hollywood as a superstar? Of course, by the paycheck they get to take home, including backend cut, and their estimated asking price for future movie projects. As an inspiration for more aspiring actors to try harder on their acting auditions, we list 2014’s highest paid actors in Hollywood. They are ranked according to their earnings in the past years. 1. Robert Downey Jr. – $75 million His career comeback is one of the greatest success stories in Hollywood. RDJ’s iconic portrayal as Marvel superhero Iron Man was instrumental in putting him on top of the list of Hollywood’s highest paid actors and he will remain there for years unless he puts Iron Man’s suit down. 2. Channing Tatum – $60 million Channing Tatum may not be as accomplished as the other actors on the list but he is now Hollywood’s second highest paid actor. This was after the success of his self-produced movie Magic Mike, which was largely based on his life as a former male stripper. The movie was such a hit they are turning it into a Broadway musical plus a sequel is in the works. 3. Hugh Jackman – $55 million There is probably no actor as versatile and as talented as Hugh Jackman and that puts him on the third spot. His claim to fame, other than his theatre work, is playing Wolverine in the series of X-men movies. This career break led to more notable roles, the biggest of which was Jean Valjean on the movie adaptation of Les Miserables. 4. Mark Wahlberg – $52 million Who would have thought that a movie about a grown man and his stuffed teddy bear would earn $550 million in the box office? Only Mark Wahlberg and his co-stars could pull that off. Wahlberg’s movie Ted, along with several of his movies, helped him land a spot on Hollywood’s highest paid actors of 2014. 5. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – $46 million The year 2013 has been great for Dwayne Johnson as two of his movies – Fast & Furious 6 and G.I. Joe: Retaliation – paved the way for him to enter into the highest paid list. He has also been named the top-grossing actor of 2013 following the success of these two movies. 6. Leonardo DiCaprio – $39 million After many years Leonardo DiCaprio can still say he has it in him. His latest take on the movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby earned him a spot on the coveted highest paid list. The movie is the actor’s second top-grossing movie of all time; next to Titanic. 7. Adam Sandler – $37 million It has been quite rough on Adam Sandler for the past years with flops such as That’s My Boy and Jack and Jill. But it takes an animated film like Hotel Transylvania and a sequel to Grown Ups to put him back on the list. 8. Tom Cruise – $35 million No one should underestimate how foreign moviegoers love Tom Cruise. Although his latest movies were pretty dismal in US box office, the foreign box office made up for all the loss and put him on the eighth spot of Hollywood’s highest paid. 9. Denzel Washington – $33 million Denzel Washington is the kind of actor who knows where the good roles are. His latest movies 2 Guns and Flight were received well by critics. Both movies also fared well in the US and foreign box-office considering they were made from a budget less than half of their sales. 10. Liam Neeson – $32 million Liam Neeson has a knack of turning low budget films into blockbuster hits. He made a lot through backend cut from his movies Taken, Taken 2 and The Grey. Neeson also has a roster of top-grossing movies including The Lego Movie where he performed as a voice actor and Star Wars Episode I. Many of these actors had to work their hardest to get to where they are. Some may have even ventured into modeling jobs so they can ease their way to fame. If the aspiring actor wants to be part of Hollywood’s highest paid list someday, they will have to be very determined about and be very talented to. If they’re best at their craft, no acting or modeling auditions could be ever too hard for them.