The highest-paid actors of all time are living large

Everyone knows that movie stars get paid a lot. Being rich and successful go hand in hand with being a well-known actor. But which of these famous people has made the most money, and from what movies? Well, it looks like an actor can sometimes make more money in one movie franchise than we will in our whole lives. Maybe we chose the wrong job. Some of the highest-paid actors in history made a lot of money slowly over the course of long careers. Others had big hits early on with roles in movies that kept coming back. No matter what, actors and actresses who make a lot of money almost always get more money and fame in return. Anyway, here’s a list of some of the most well-paid actors of all time, so you can pick and choose who to be jealous of. That’s how nice we are.

The purpose of records was to be broken. That seems to be the main idea behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its release. But the movie isn’t the only thing that’s breaking records right now. Box Office Mojo says that the movie’s huge success at the box office means that Harrison Ford is now the highest-earning actor of all time. Ford had to beat box office king Samuel L. Jackson to get this highest honour. Anyone who knows anything at all about Hollywood knows that this couldn’t have been easy, since Jackson has been in almost every movie made since the early 1990s. What about the other people? In this age of record-breaking blockbusters, only a small group of actors have used these large-scale movies to become box office greats. Let’s go through the top ten highest-earning actors of all time, starting with No. 10 and working our way down to Mr. Ford. Some of them you will probably see coming, but others may be a surprise.

1. Morgan Freeman

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The man has played God and narrated every great documentary you’ve ever seen, so he should be on this list. Like Michael Caine before him, Morgan Freeman has a very long list of movies that spans decades and a wide range of genres. The Shawshank Redemption and Se7en are two of his best movies. But, just like Michael Caine, his most successful role at the box office was as Lucius Fox, a master of gadgets and a powerful businessman, in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. We’re off to a good start with someone who couldn’t deserve to be here more. Morgan Freeman is a Hollywood icon, a living legend, and in many ways a God (not to mention that he does actually play God in Bruce Almighty). His roles in movies like “Shawshank Redemption” and “Seven” helped him become a well-paid actor, and we can all be thankful for his calm and soothing voice.

2. Bradley Cooper

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Bradley Cooper’s career took off with a quirky role in 2005’s “Wedding Crashers,” which led to critical and commercial hits like “The Hangover” movies, “American Sniper,” “American Hustle,” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. All told, his movies have made nearly $11.06 billion around the world. Bradley Cooper is a real triple threat because he can act, sing, and direct. Over the years, he has played many different roles in comedies, romances, and dramas, and he has done well in all of them. The movies Avengers: Endgame, Guardians of the Galaxy, and American Hustle, as well as his own A Star is Born, helped him get on this list. We enjoy seeing it.

3. Zoe Saldana

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Saldaa joined Faces after being seen on an episode of Law & Order in 1999 called “Refuge, Part 2.” Saldaa’s first movie role was in Center Stage (2000), a movie about dancers at the made-up American Ballet Academy in New York City. The movie was directed by Nicholas Hytner. She was in Crossroads, a Britney Spears movie (2002). Critics didn’t like the movie, but it did well at the box office. Saldaa and Nick Cannon were both in the 2002 comedy-drama Drumline, which got mixed reviews. Zoe Saldana, who is very pretty, made it onto this list because she has been in two very successful movies. The first was a movie called Avatar, which you may have heard of. Zoe Saldana was the main character in “Avatar,” the second most popular movie ever. Together with the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, that helped her more than 30 movies make almost $11.59 billion around the world. Avatar was her highest-grossing movie of all time until Avengers: Endgame, in which Saldana also had a part, beat it out. Not too bad going, we’ve got to say.

4. Tom Hanks

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Tom Hanks is a real part of pop culture history, so you might expect to see him on this list. Hank is known for being an all-around nice guy that nobody can say anything bad about. His film legacy has the same strong reputation as his own. As you might expect, Forrest Gump and Castaway made a lot of money, and the Toy Story series didn’t hurt either. His voiceover work as Woody the Cowboy in Toy Story 3 put him on our list of the highest-paid actors. Tom Hanks, who plays “everyman” characters, started out as a comedian in the 1980s, but he later showed how good he was at dramatic roles in movies like “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump.” Since the 1980s, he has been one of America’s most beloved actors because of his ability to show sadness and tragedy while still being lovable. I mean, he can carry an entire movie by just talking to a volleyball. That’s acting.

5. Scarlett Johansson

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Scarlett Johansson, a blonde bombshell, made it on the list without much trouble. She has been in movies for a long time and has played a lot of different characters in different roles. Her role as Black Widow in the entire Avengers series helped her get rich. Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow on the big screen, has a long and impressive list of jobs that goes back more than 20 years. Her worldwide box office earnings of nearly $12.11 billion, on the other hand, have mostly been made in the last few years. Each of her roles in “The Jungle Book,” “Sing,” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe made more than $200 million. She is only one of four actors who have made more than $12 billion. We saw Johansson’s action side in Avengers: Endgame and in her movie Lucy, so we know she’s not someone we’d choose to fight with quickly.

6. Ian McKellen

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Sir Ian McKellen is the king of the movie scene, no doubt about it. Come on, he’s Gandalf and Magneto, it doesn’t get more epic than that. His roles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the X-Men series helped him become a well-paid actor. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also a well-known activist for equal rights in real life. Simply put, we like Sir Ian. The BBC says that “his performances have guaranteed him a place in the canon of English stage and film actors.” McKellen is a British cultural icon because he has won every major award for theatre in the UK. In 1961, he started working as a professional actor at the Belgrade Theatre, where he was part of their well-known repertory company. McKellen’s first show on the West End was in 1965. In 1969, he was asked to join the Prospect Theatre Company to play the main roles in Shakespeare’s Richard II and Marlowe’s Edward II. He quickly became known as one of the best classical actors in the country. McKellen became a mainstay of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain in the 1970s. In 1981, he was nominated for and won his first Tony Award for his role as Antonio Salieri in the play Amadeus.

7. Cate Blanchett

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Cate Blanchett is the last woman on our list. She is a magical creature who gives her characters a spiritual side that no one else could. Her role as the bad guy in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and her role as the beautiful royal elf Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies stay with people in a haunting way. Cate Blanchett is one of the best actresses of her time, and not many people would disagree with that. In the last 30 years, she has become one of the most popular movie stars in the world because of how many different roles she has played. In 2021, in just a few weeks, she showed off the many skills that made her famous: For Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up,” Blanchett played a cable news host in the style of Megyn Kelly or Mika Brzezinski to get a lot of laughs. For Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” Blanchett played a 1940s femme fatale who conned a cocky con man (Bradley Cooper).

8. Samuel L Jackson

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Last but not least, we get to Samuel L. Jackson, who is the actor who has made the most money of all time. Another actor who made a lot of money from the Avengers series, his role as Nick Fury made him the highest-paid actor of all time, which we don’t mind. Jackson deserves to be at the top of the list, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s been in movies like Jurassic Park and The Incredibles. Samuel L. Jackson has been working in Hollywood since 1972, but he didn’t become THE Samuel L. Jackson until he played Jules Winnefield in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. He has made a career out of working all the time, which has given him the chance to be a part of many franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars, usually as the badass leader of the group he is working with. His ridiculously long list of movies made him the box office champion for a long time… until just recently.

What a long list of good actors! If we can learn anything from this, it’s that maybe we shouldn’t be so against trying out for the next big movie franchise.