CONGRATS, J-Law.
You officially made the most cash money in the last year out of all the other actresses in the biz. By a long shot, actually, earning $52 million (around £33 million) pre-tax, which is $16.5 million ahead of the actress in second place, Scarlett Johansson.
Here's the top 10 from Forbes' list of the highest paid actresses in 2015:
Jennifer Lawrence - $52 millionScarlett Johansson - $35.5 millionMelissa McCarthy - $23 millionBingbing Fan - $21 millionJennifer Aniston - $16.5 millionJulia Roberts - $16 millionAngelina Jolie - $15 millionReese Witherspoon - $15 millionAnne Hathaway - $12 millionKristen Stewart - $12 million
Emma Stone comes in at 16, earning $6.5 million, if you were wondering (we were.)
If you're a little puzzled by those rankings, and how some of those actresses managed to crack the top 10 while not appearing in any movies in the last year you can remember off the top of your head (samesies), DON'T FORGET about all the beauty details and brand partnerships some of those big name actresses are racking up. They bring in BANK.
But while those numbers are pretty damn impressive, and achieve the whole 'oh, I feel a bit shit about my life earnings' thing, they're a bit rubbish compared to what the men are making. And while there's a lot more important stuff in the feminist cause to squabble over than a million dollar wage gap for very wealthy, privileged people, it's still important that we bring it up. Because sexism in one place is setting a standard of sexism being acceptable in other places. And it's total bullshit.
Jennifer Lawrence, the top earning female actress of 2015, earned $52 million in the last 12 months. The highest earning actor, Robert Downey Junior, earned $80 million.
(Note on this: a quick look at IMDB tells us that Jennifer Lawrence filmed 4 movies in 2015. Robert Downey Jr filmed 2. Just saying.)
And the massive disparity in numbers just gets worse the further you go down the list. Number 33, the final person on Forbes' list, is excellent actor Andy Lau. He earned $13 million. Notice anything off about that number? Yep. The 33rd highest paid actor is making more than the 9th highest paid actress.
Why? It basically boils down to two reasons:
1. Women are not being paid the same as men, even in Hollywood.
2. There aren't as many opportunities for women to get those high-paying lead roles, because networks are STILL reluctant to do female-led movies.
Does this make anyone else really, really angry?
Words: Ellen Scott for Cosmopolitan UK
