The highest paid actor last year was Adam Sandler followed by Margot Robbie
Did y’all know that Adam Sandler made four film projects and did a tour last year? Forbes has released their annual list of highest paid actors and in 2023, Adam Sandler was the highest paid. I must be hanging out in the wrong entertainment crowds because honestly, I had no idea he did anything other than Murder Mystery 2, lol. According to Forbes, Adam made $73 million last year, thanks to his comedy tour, MM2, action-comedy The Out-Laws, comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, and voice and production work on Netflix’s Leo. The last time Sandler was named Forbes’ highest earning actor was way back in 2002, but he’s appeared in the top ten list several times since then.
Adam Sandler’s four film projects of 2023 propelled him to an annual salary of $73m (£57m), making him the highest-paid performer in Hollywood, according to Forbes magazine. The standup turned actor also embarked on a comedy tour, which supplemented earnings from starring and producing in Netflix’s Murder Mystery 2, as well as his writing, producing and voice work on Leo, the streamer’s popular animation.
Sandler was also involved with little-seen action comedy The Out-Laws, and produced and starred – alongside his wife and daughters – in acclaimed comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. The actor last topped the list in 2002, when he made $47m (£37m) starring in the likes of Mr Deeds and Punch-Drunk Love.
In second place was Margot Robbie, who at 33 is also the youngest actor on the list by a decade. The massive global success of Barbie, which she co-produced, is largely responsible for the estimated $59m (£46m) Robbie earned in 2023.
Despite the latest Mission: Impossible movie performing below par at the box office, in part on account of being released a few weeks before Barbenheimer, profits from that film, plus streaming residues from 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, meant Tom Cruise was third on the list, with $45m (£35m).
Robbie’s Barbie co-star, Ryan Gosling, was joint fourth, alongside Oppenheimer’s Matt Damon; both men earned $43m (£34m). Meanwhile, Ben Affleck, Damon’s co-star – and director – on Air, the Nike sports film released early last year, was ninth, with $38m (£30m).
Sandler’s Murder Mystery co-star Jennifer Aniston came in sixth on the list with $42m (£33m). One of only two women in the Top 10, Aniston has only starred in two films in the past five years – Murder Mystery and its sequel – but her earnings were presumably much supplemented by Friends residuals (Forbes does not include money earned through advertising and sponsorship deals).
Killers of the Flower Moon star Leonardo DiCaprio made $41m (£32m), placing him joint seventh with Jason Statham, the only English actor on the list. Statham starred in four 2023 releases: Fast X, Meg 2: The Trench, Expend4bles and Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.
In 10th place was Denzel Washington, who made $24m (£19m) and featured in the third Equalizer film. At 69, he is the oldest, and the only Black actor on the list.
Forbes reports that it calculates its estimates through interviews with agents and industry experts, as well as crunching data from the likes of IMDbPro. The business magazine said its figures represent taxed earnings for the calendar year 2023, and only include income related to entertainment. In 2022, Tyler Perry topped the Forbes list, while Dwayne Johnson did so for the three previous consecutive years.
While Sandler topping the list took me by surprise, none of the other names really did except for Aniston, but as they pointed out, those Friends residuals must be quite nice. I do think it’s kinda interesting that both Tyler Perry and Dwayne Johnson completely fell off the top 10 list this year. I would have at least expected Perry to be up there, but I just looked it up and he didn’t have any new acting projects in 2023.
If you’re like me and need to see things in list form, here’s what the top ten looks:
Adam Sandler ($73 million)
Margot Robbie ($59 million)
Tom Cruise ($45 million)
Ryan Gosling ($43 million)
Matt Damon ($43 million)
Jennifer Aniston ($42 million)
Leonardo DiCaprio ($41 million)
Jason Statham ($41 million)
Ben Affleck ($38 million)
Denzel Washington ($24 million)
I don’t think I need to point out that seven out of the top ten actors were white men, and most are white men that generally appear in some spot on that list year after year. As always, when you compare the highest paid men vs. women, the women’s numbers are much less. I cannot say enough how much I want to see a Barbie bump next year in terms of investment in films created by and starring women and POC. Gosh, that would be so satisfying.
Photos credit: Scott Yamano/Netflix, Getty Images for Netflix, IMAGO/Steve Vas / Avalon
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