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These Are the Highest-Earning Movie and TV Roles of All Time

The number of women on this list is very short.

By Alex Warner

Jan 17, 2018

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Since the Times Up movement, everyone is after Hollywood to create a fair and safe work environment for all women and men—including equal pay. And while we might not complain about the salaries (because that's a lot of zeros), it's not about the amount—it's about how work is valued. Ahead, the 30 highest-earning people for a single role in a movie or TV series—please notice the lack there of female actresses.

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Kelsey Grammer

Movie/TV Show: Fraiser
Paid: $250,000/episode

Grammer was making this amount by the show's third season, which was considerably higher than his co-stars.

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Ellen Pompeo

Movie/TV Show: Grey's Anatomy
Paid: $750,000/episode

Pompeo just signed on to do seasons 15 and 16 of Shonda Rhimes' hit drama TV series, and in doing so, just became the highest-paid TV actress—in large part thanks to her own negotiation. She's opened up about her salary to empower other women to fight for what they're worth too.

Cartoon, Yellow, Animation, Fiction, Line, Illustration, Interaction, Animated cartoon, Fun, Conversation,

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Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Harry Shearer, and Yeardley Smith

Movie/TV Show: The Simpsons
Paid: $400,000/episode

The cast took a pay cut in 2011 to keep the longest-running show in America going.

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Ashton Kutcher

Movie/TV Show: Two and a Half Men
Paid: $750,000/episode

That shakes out to be roughly $34,000 per minute.

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David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, and Lisa Kudrow

Movie/TV Show: Friends
Paid: $1 million/episode

When the show first premiered in 1994, the friends were all paid just over $20,000 per episode. As it became a beloved, fan-favorite show, the actors each received a 5000% raise, making $1 million each per episode by the time the show ended in 2004.

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CBS

John Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco

Movie/TV Show: The Big Bang Theory
Paid: $1 million/episode

The leading cast proposed a three-year deal at $1 million per episode and got it.

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Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser

Movie/TV Show: Mad About You
Paid: $1 million/episode

According to their contracts, the duo had to be paid equally. (And it was just announced that there will be a series revival!)

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Jerry Seinfeld

Movie/TV Show: Seinfeld
Paid: $1.5 million/episode

Seinfeld took home roughly $267 million to portray himself on TV. Not a bad gig if you ask us.

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Mark Walhberg

Movie/TV Show: All the Money in the World (reshoots)
Paid: $1.5 million

Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million to reshoot scenes after Kevin Spacey was dropped from the movie after the sexual allegations brought against him. He was making 1,500 percent more than his co-star Michelle Williams.

People, Fun, Human, Sitting, Vacation, Event, Child, Conversation, Leisure, Eating,

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Charlie Sheen

Movie/TV Show: Two and a Half Men
Paid: $1.8 million/episode

Sheen was also paid $2 million/episode for Anger Management, which became the highest amount a TV actor received per episode.

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Walt Disney Pictures

Emma Watson

Movie/TV Show: Beauty and the Beast
Paid: $14 million

Her role as Belle in Disney's live-action version of Beauty and the Beast put her in the rankings for Forbes' highest-paid actresses.

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20th Century Fox

Angelina Jolie

Movie/TV Show: Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Paid: $20 million

Mr. and Mrs. Smith is Jolie's highest paying movie role to date. Her role in Maleficent was just $5 million short at a salary of $15 million.

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Michael C. Hall

Movie/TV Show: Dexter
Paid: $20 million for seasons 6 and 7

Though he asked to be paid $24 million, Showtime countered with an offer of $20 million, sparking a feud that almost ended the show.

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Summit Entertainment

Emma Stone

Movie/TV Show: La La Land
Paid: $26 million

Stone became Forbes' highest-paid actress of 2017.

People, Social group, Fashion, Youth, Event, Suit, Fashion design,

Warner Bros

Brad Pitt

Movie/TV Show: Oceans Eleven
Paid: $30 million

This is the most Pitt has made for a single role in a movie.

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Tim Allen

Movie/TV Show: Home Improvement
Paid: $35 million for 28 episodes

Allen was in high-demand at the end of the series and accepted this extremely high salary to play Tim Taylor for the last season.

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Walt Disney Pictures

Robert Downing Jr.

Movie/TV Show: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Paid: $40 million

Warner Bros

Daniel Radcliffe

Movie/TV Show: Harry Potter
Paid: $50 million for the final two movies

According to reports, Radcliffe made a combined $29 million from the first four movies. So, $25 million for each of the last two movies seems fair—though in comparison the Harry Potter franchise is worth $25 billion.

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Warner Bros

Leonardo DiCaprio

Movie/TV Show: Inception
Paid: $59 million

This was surprisingly the most money DiCaprio made from one movie.

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Warner Bros

Emma Watson

Movie/TV Show: Harry Potter movies
Paid: $60 million

Her earnings from the hit movies are far less than those of Daniel Radcliffe.

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Jack Nicholson

Movie/TV Show: Batman
Paid: $60 million

Nicholson started at a mere $6 million for the movie, but the terms of his contract bumped up his total earnings to $60 million. Obviously, he did something right.

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Paramount Pictures

Harrison Ford

Movie/TV Show: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Paid: $65 million

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Sandra Bullock

Movie/TV Show: Gravity
Paid: $70 million

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Tom Hanks

Movie/TV Show: Forrest Gump
Paid: $70 million

This was the biggest payday in Hanks' career.

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Will Smith

Movie/TV Show: Men in Black
Paid: $100 milion

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Paramount Pictures

Tom Cruise

Movie/TV Show: War of the Worlds
Paid: $100 million

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Bruce Willis

Movie/TV Show: The Sixth Sense
Paid: $120 million

Along with accepting a $14 million deal for the picture, Willis negotiated "a deal wherein he received a percentage of the gross and home video profits of the film." Since the movie was a 2000s hit, it brought Willis a lot of money.

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Walt Disney Pictures

Johnny Depp

Movie/TV Show: Pirates of the Caribbean
Paid: $185 million

Depp didn't have to loot for treasure in his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, as he brought in $185 million for the first four movies.

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Warner Bros

Keanu Reeves

Movie/TV Show: The Matrix trilogy
Paid: $262 million

Reeves received a $126,000,000 paycheck for Matrix Reloaded—marked as the largest paycheck an actor has received from a single movie.

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Tom Cruise

Movie/TV Show: Mission: Impossible
Paid: $290 million

Thanks to his role as Ethan Hunt, and the popularity of the Impossible franchise, Cruise has quite literally been “cruising” smoothly through life. Making nearly $75,000,000 per movie, Cruise’s salary is expected to raise yet again, with the newest Mission:Impossible movie set to release in 2018.

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Alex Warner