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Jennifer Lawrence is once again the most paid actress in Hollywood, topping Forbes’ annual list for the second year in a row with an income of US $46 million (AUD $60 million).
It’s actually a slight dip in earnings for the Hunger Games and X-Men: Apocalypse star, who brought in USD $52 million (about AUD $68 million) the year before.
The 26-year-old pushed her way to the top of the list largely thanks to banking her pay cheque from the final Hunger Games installment, and a large upfront fee for Passengers, the sci-fi meets rom-com in which she co-stars with Chris Pratt.
Followed by Lawrence is Melissa McCarthy, who earned USD $33 million (AUD $43 million) following her reported eight-figure salary for Ghostbusters, and then Scarlett Johansson, who came in third at USD $25 million.
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Jennifer and Melissa being at the top of the list tells us that the funnywoman is more of a commodity in Hollywood than ever before. While both women have and can do serious roles, they are largely known for their humour and quirk.
Seeing women collecting big-time in the film industry is a good sign that the gender pay-gap issue is improving, but let’s hold off celebrations until Forbes releases its list of highest-paid male actors on Thursday.
Image: Lionsgate
J-Law penned an impassioned polemic for Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter last year in which she expressed anger at the gender pay-gap in Hollywood.
“When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with dicks, I didn’t get mad at Sony,” she wrote.
“I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need.”
Forbes’ full list of highest-paid actresses for 2016 can be seen here.
