By Wonderwall.com Editors
5:18am PST, Nov 9, 2021
It's no secret that Hollywood actors rake in the big bucks. But you'd turn green with envy if you knew how much some stars can make for one day of work. And you'd be even more surprised to learn the monetary mother lodes that other celebs have hit… like Dwayne Johnson, who made some major cash for his starring role in the action-comedy "Red Notice," which debuts on Nov. 12, 2021. To play FBI profiler John Hartley, The Rock is reportedly making a casual $20 million — plus more as he's also a producer on the project. Of course, this isn't the first time Dwayne has brought in a lucrative paycheck. According to Forbes, he was the highest paid actor in the world in 2019, raking in an unfathomable $89.4M. "Fast & Furious presents: Hobbs & Shaw" is responsible for a portion of those earnings: For his starring role in the film, Dwayne also reportedly took home $20M.
To celebrate the release of "Red Notice" join Wonderwall.com as we take a look at more celebs who've received jaw-dropping paychecks…
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"Sex and the City" stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon have joined forces to reprise their iconic roles as a trio of friends in New York City on the 2021 HBO Max reboot "And Just Like That…" The ladies are making some serious dough for their returning to the screen: According to Variety, they're taking home $10M each for 10 half-hour episodes.
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Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Robert Downey Jr. commands a massive paycheck. In 2020, RDJ starred in the box office flop "Dolittle," for which he earned $20M. However, that amount was far less than what he earned for his role as Iron Man — for "Avengers," "Avengers: Age of Ultron," and "Avengers: Endgame," he took home $50M, $80M and at least $75M, respectively. We can't even imagine.
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It's no wonder celebs love endorsement deals! In September 2017, pop star and actress Selena Gomez reportedly made a whopping $30M for her two-year contract with activewear brand Puma. In 2020, the "Only Murders in the Building" star launched Rare Beauty, her very own cosmetics line. In its first five months, the brand reportedly brought in an impressive $60M in revenue.
For their exceptional portrayals in the Academy Award-winning Quentin Tarantino film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt made quite the profit — they each earned a reported $10M.
Taylor Swift was listed as Forbes magazine's highest paid entertainer in 2019 for a reason! The Grammy Award-winning artist's 2018 "Reputation" stadium tour made history as the highest grossing tour in U.S. history with earnings of more than $266 million.
For their work on "The Morning Show," stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon earn $2M an episode! After their lucrative deals drew criticism, Reese addressed it in a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "There seemed to be a resentment, as if we weren't worth it or it was bothersome, and I thought, 'Why is that bothersome?'" she said. "I guarantee these companies are real smart, and if they agree to pay us, they're doing it for a reason."
"The Morning Show" isn't the only money-making project Reese Witherspoon is attached to. She earned a reported $1 million per episode for her work on the 2020 Hulu series "Little Fires Everywhere" with Kerry Washington.
Ryan Reynolds sure knows how to command a hefty paycheck — the Canadian actor earned $27M for his starring role in the Michael Bay-directed flick "6 Underground." The film, however, was poorly reviewed, receiving just 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yikes. At least he had a major payout! In 2021, he earned a reported $20 million to star in "Red Notice" opposite Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot.
Ariana Grande is a music industry darling, and her lucrative paychecks definitely reflect her superstar status. The pop star took home a cool $8M for headlining the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in 2019 — that's $4M per weekend! She made the same amount as Beyonce did when Queen Bey headlined the music festival in 2018.
Kim Kardashian West isn't just a reality TV star — she's a seriously successful businesswoman. In just over two years since its launch, Kim's SKIMS shapewear brand, which has since branched out to include undergarments, pajamas and more, grew to be valued at $1.6 billion. According to The New York Times, the brand reportedly earned $145M in sales in 2020 and is expected to double its sales to $300M in 2021.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, power couple Beyonce and JAY-Z had an incredibly successful "On the Run II" Stadium Tour. They grossed around $5M per night — that's more than $250M for the entire tour!
In September 2017, Rihanna unveiled her popular makeup brand Fenty Beauty. The singer has a serious knack for the makeup business — Fenty Beauty grossed an astonishing $570M in revenue in the 15 months after its launch.
Kelly Clarkson hit the jackpot with "The Voice." The fan favorite coach on the singing competition show earns a massive paycheck: According to Variety, the singer rakes in a casual $14M per season. That's approximately $560K an episode!
Kanye West has built quite the empire. According to Forbes, the fashion designer-rapper was the third highest paid celebrity in 2019 (just after sister-in-law Kylie Jenner), having earned $150M. But he's made even more since then: Most of his earnings come from his collaboration with Adidas, which gives him a reported 15% royalty per the terms of their deal. According to Forbes, the Yeezy brand made an estimated $1.7 billion in sales in 2020.
Will Smith was paid a pretty penny to reprise his role as Mike Lowrey in the 2020 action film "Bad Boys For Life" — he took home an impressive $17M. Not too shabby!
Golden Globe-winning actress Elisabeth Moss's paychecks are far from dystopian — the star of "The Handmaid's Tale" makes a reported $1M per episode. For the first year of the show, the actress reportedly made $175K an episode.
In 2012, Beyonce landed a massive deal with Pepsi with a pretty impressive payday. The star reportedly struck a $50 million multi-year deal with the brand and maintained creative control of future projects.
Sofia Vergara was named the highest paid actress in 2020 by Forbes, which reported that she earned $43 million for her acting work on ABC's "Modern Family" and her work as a judge on "America's Got Talent" that year.
According to Forbes, in 2018, Kylie Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics makeup brand sold an estimated $360M worth of product. In November 2018, she signed a deal with retailer Ulta Beauty and sold an estimated $55M worth of product in only 6 weeks.
He created an iconic character, then Johnny Depp received a major payday for reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow. In 2009, the actor reportedly earned $35 million up front to play the eclectic buccaneer in "Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides."
Big-screen superstar Jennifer Lawrence reportedly earned $15 million for the final two-part installment of the "Hunger Games" film franchise. Forbes magazine named her the highest paid actress of 2015 after she brought in $52 million. She topped the charts by a wide margin, with $16.5 million more in earnings than runner-up Scarlett Johansson.
It will come as no surprise that Oprah Winfrey made a lot of money hosting her hugely successful talk show for 25 seasons. But just how much did Oprah make by the end of her small-screen run in 2011? A reported $315 million.
Thanks to her "Prismatic" world tour, Katy Perry topped Forbes magazine's list of top-earning women in music in 2015. The superstar raked in about $2 million in every city her tour visited, amassing an estimated $135 million that year. She went on to serve as a judge on the rebooted "American Idol," for which she reportedly earns a jaw-dropping $25 million per season.
Calvin Harris is certainly no slouch in the earnings department. The Scotland-born DJ brought in $66 million in 2015 according to Forbes, in large part due to his residency deal with Las Vegas nightclub Hakkasan, where he earned a reported $400,000 per gig.
Though it was arguably a waste of money, as she only stayed on for one season, Mariah Carey still brought home a hefty paycheck for her time on "American Idol." For her stint as a guest judge on season 12, the diva reportedly earned $18 million.
Kanye West and JAY-Z reportedly earned a cool $3 million each for a night's work. The gig? A Sweet 16 party for a billionaire's kid in Dubai. It was chump change for the teen, whose father founded the United Arab Emirates: Her family is reportedly worth $150 billion.
In 2001, Jennifer Lopez made history when she became the highest paid Latina actress at the time when she earned $9M to star in the romantic comedy "The Wedding Planner" alongside Matthew McConaughey.
In 2012, Jessica Simpson teamed up with Weight Watchers to slim down and took home a pretty big paycheck in the process. The singer and former reality star-turned-brand mogul reportedly struck a $4 million deal with the slimdown company to drop her baby weight after having daughter Maxwell Johnson.
Catherine Zeta-Jones dialed up a winner when she scored an endorsement deal with T-Mobile. The actress reportedly locked down $10 million per two-year contract and ended up earning $20 million from the mobile giant.
Even when he was spiraling downward in 2011, Charlie Sheen was profiting from it, thanks to his heavily read Twitter feed. The troubled actor was paid an absurd amount of money to send out ads as tweets, reportedly earning up to $9,500 per post.
The role of a lifetime! Daniel Radcliffe reportedly raked in $39 million to complete his run as the boy wizard in the "Harry Potter" film franchise.
Gisele Bundchen was the world's reigning highest paid model in 2015, pulling in $44 million, according to Forbes. Despite retiring from the runway that same year, the supermodel starred in ad campaigns and made personal appearances, which reportedly earned her upwards of $128,000 per event.
In 2011, New Jersey's Rutgers University paid Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi $32,000 to speak to students. The school came under fire for the bountiful check they handed out to the reality star since technically, the money came from taxpayer dollars (it's a state-funded school). Among her talking points? "Study hard, but party harder."
He may be moonwalking in another place now, but MJ is still breaking the bank. In fact, after his death, he scored the biggest record contract ever. Michael Jackson's estate struck a $250 million deal with Sony to release his music a year after he passed away in 2009.
In 2003, Nicole Kidman — who that same year won an Academy Award for best actress for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in "The Hours" — signed a $12M deal to serve as the ambassador for Chanel's iconic Chanel No. 5 fragrance.
Low-cal alcohol is a good business to be in. Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel allegedly sold her Skinnygirl line of diet booze for an amount that's ridiculous, even by "Real Housewives" standards. Initial expert analysis of the deal valued the sale at $120 million, while a later report claimed Bethenny scored just $8.1 million. "Come on. That it could be the fastest growing booze brand on the market and have sold for that little is just preposterous," she told Forbes, declining to reveal how much she really made. But she did add this: "I'm going to be paying a hell of a lot more than $8.1 million in taxes."
"Seinfeld" star Jerry Seinfeld was the first lead actor to make a certain landmark sum per episode: $1 million dollars. It's kind of a lot for a show about "nothing."
By the end of his run on TV's "The Big Bang Theory," star Jim Parsons was commanding more than $1M per episode.
