Kristen Stewart tops Forbes list

AP

Kristen Stewart

NEW YORK: Kristen Stewart, who shot to fame as Bella Swan in the Twilight Saga films and stars in Snow White and the Huntsman, jumped to the top of Forbes’s annual list of highest-paid actresses on Tuesday.

South Africa’s Charlize Theron was placed fifth.

Stewart, 22, earned an estimated $34.5 million (R283m) between May 1 last year and May 31 this year and pushed Angelina Jolie into fourth place.

Cameron Diaz, who had a surprise hit with Bad Teacher, came in second with $34m.

“(Stewart) is earning a lot of money from one of the most successful franchises of all time. This is who you would expect to see right now,” said Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes’s Los Angeles bureau chief.

“This year you are seeing someone young and at the brink of potentially great stardom sitting on the top of the list.”

Cameron Diaz

REUTERS

Forbes.com compiled the list, estimating salaries by talking to agents, managers and lawyers and based earnings on pay, profits, residuals, endorsements and advertising work.

Sandra Bullock, who largely took a break from filming after 2009’s The Blind Side, was third with $25m.

Jolie, who topped last year’s list with Sarah Jessica Parker, dropped to the fourth spot with earnings of $20m, while Charlize Theron, who co-stars in Snow White and the Huntsman and appears in Prometheus, earned $18m, rounding out the top five places.

Parker, whose film I Don’t Know How She Does It last year brought in a disappointing $30m at the worldwide box office, slipped to seventh place with $15m.

“She is almost earning more from her perfume and endorsement deals right now than from entertainment,” Pomerantz said.

“That is true of a lot of women. They have these outside deals that are lucrative. Angelina Jolie earns a lot from residuals, as does Sarah Jessica Parker.”

Sandra Bullock

REUTERS

Former Friends star Jennifer Aniston just made the list, earning $11m.

The top 10 actresses earned a combined $200m, according to Forbes.com, a lot less than the $361m shared among the 10 highest-earning men in Hollywood.

“It is nowhere near what men are making,” Pomerantz said.

“I think it will be a while until women see salary parity, if it ever happens.

“Women are paid less in every industry, not just in Hollywood.” – Reuters