Forbes' Highest-Paid Actors List Shines Light On Gender Inequality

Forbes’ newly-released figures about the highest-paid men in Hollywood have once again shone a light on the disparity in pay between male and female stars.

Last week, the financial news outlet revealed that Emma Stone had been the top-earning actress of the past 12 months, thanks to her Oscar-winning turn in ‘La La Land’.

They’ve now compiled a similar list of top earners among the men in the film world, with ‘Transformers’ actor Mark Wahlberg coming out on top, having earned around $68 million (£53.1 million) in the last year, more than double Emma’s reported $26 million (£20.3 million).

Just to really drive that point home… Emma Stone won an Academy Award in the last 12 months and earned less than half of what Mark got during a year in which he appeared in ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’, which got lukewarm reviews at best.

Emma also earned less than the top 14 highest-paid actors, including her co-star Ryan Gosling, whose performance in the Hollywood-based musical was received less well than hers.

What’s more, the new figures reveal that the 10 highest-earning actors collectively earned $488.5 million (£381.7 million), more than two and a half times what their female counterparts made on $172.5 million (£134.8 million).

As Forbes writer Natalie Robehmed put it: “The top 10 actors banked a cumulative $488.5 million—nearly three times the $172.5 million combined total of the 10 top-earning women… while only three actresses made more than $20 million in 12 months, 16 actors broached the mark.”

Other actors making up Forbes’ list of highest-paid actors include Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Vin Diesel, Adam Sandler and Jackie Chan.