Why did Dwayne Johnson earn more than Jennifer Lawrence in 2016?
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Jennifer Lawrence and Dwayne Johnson have been crowned Hollywood鈥檚 highest-paid actress and actor, respectively, as the discussion over wages for actresses continues and Mr. Johnson takes the title away from Marvel actor Robert Downey Jr.
Johnson became the world鈥檚 highest-paid actor after earning an estimated $64.5 million for 2016, . Ms. Lawrence, who wrote an essay in 2015 about the pay difference for actors and actresses, took in an estimated $46 million in 2016, .听
Forbes estimated that her wages from the final 鈥淗unger Games鈥� film, which was released in November 2015, and her advance earnings for the science fiction movie 鈥淧assengers鈥� contributed to her earnings.听
Melissa McCarthy, who came in second behind Lawrence, had her estimated payday for the year increase by $10 million, according to Forbes, with Forbes assuming Ms. McCarthy鈥檚 earnings for the movie 鈥淕hostbusters鈥� contributed to this. Actress Scarlett Johansson was behind McCarthy.听
The difference of almost $20 million between that of Johnson and Lawrence demonstrates the continuing gap between actors and actresses when it comes to their paychecks. Lawrence wrote in 2015 about her time on the movie 鈥淎merican Hustle,鈥� 鈥淸Co-stars] Jeremy Renner, 海角大神 Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves. If anything, I鈥檓 sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share.鈥�
Meanwhile, Johnson topping the list for actors may demonstrate a different way to reach the top of this list without starring as a superhero. Mr. Downey came in at number one three years in a row, including 2015, with Forbes attributing this victory to Downey鈥檚 paycheck from his work as Iron Man with Marvel.
While Johnson is reportedly set to star in a DC Comics 鈥淪hazam!鈥� movie as a villain, that won鈥檛 be until 2019, according to Warner Bros. This year, Johnson achieved his number one spot through non-superhero projects, including, according to Forbes, starring in the comedy 鈥淐entral Intelligence鈥� with Kevin Hart and filming the upcoming eighth 鈥淔ast and the Furious鈥� movie and 鈥淏aywatch鈥� film.
Ranked behind Johnson on the highest-paid actors list was Jackie Chan, who came in at number two, and Matt Damon, who came in at number three.
