The biggest actor pay cheques in Hollywood history

An actor's payday can often be the source of great joy, particularly when a movie does well at the box office and ensures they take home a sizeable chunk of the earnings.

Margot Robbie is the latest star to receive a big payday, as Variety recently reported that she would take home a whopping $50m for Barbie in which she takes the title role.

Read more: Why Tom Cruise And Margot Robbie Both Had Insane Paydays For Top Gun: Maverick And Barbie (CinemaBlend, 3-min read)

The Australian actor is not the first actor to win big, there are some who have negotiated large pay cheques for their films and one who has even managed to earn a staggering nine-figure sum for a single movie.

Here is everything you need to know about the biggest actor paydays in Hollywood history.

The biggest actor paydays in Hollywood history

Cameron Diaz | $42m

Despite having retired from the entertainment industry in 2014, there was a time when Cameron Diaz dominated Hollywood and this is evident in her big payday from Bad Teacher.

Read more: Cameron Diaz 'not looking to' return to acting as she can't imagine leaving daughter

In 2013, it was reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Diaz earned $42m from the movie thanks to a backend deal she had.

Margot Robbie | $50m

As previously mentioned, Robbie is expected to earn $50m for Barbie which has become a global sensation and made box office history as the first movie directly by a solo female filmmaker to earn over $1bn at the box office.

Jack Nicholson | $50m

Who can forget Jack Nicholson's role as the Joker in Batman? Well it turns out the film was also the source of one of his biggest paydays.

The actor made a deal for the 1989 film which meant he cut his normal fee of $10m to $6m in exchange for a cut of the film's profits, this worked out well for him as he is said to have made more than $50m as a result of the deal.

Scarlett Johansson | $56m

Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame proved to be a big payday for several of Marvel's key cast members, with several earning a lot off the back of the box office hits.

Scarlett Johansson, who played Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is said to have earned $56m for Avengers: Endgame alone per Forbes.

Leonardo DiCaprio | $59m

One of the great stars of the silver screen is Leonardo DiCaprio, so it stands to reason that he too has also earned a big pay cheque from his films.

The actor has many blockbuster hits under his belt, but according to E! News the actor earned an impressive $59m from Inception alone.

Tom Hanks | $60m

Tom Hanks will forever be associated with one of his best films roles, Forrest Gump, and the film of the same name earned the actor a big pay day when it earned big at the box office.

Per EW, Hanks is said to have earned an estimated $60m for Forrest Gump, and he similarly took home big paydays for Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile.

Harrison Ford | $65m

Another A-list star to take home the big bucks is Harrison Ford, who is said to have earned $65m for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Read more: Big Budgets, Big Headaches: Why ‘Indiana Jones 5’ and ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ are Struggling to Make a Profit (Variety, 5-min read)

The 2008 film saw Ford return to one of his most famous roles, and part of Paramount's deal to make the film meant that the actor, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas split a large chunk of the earnings which meant Ford took home a sizeable amount.

Sandra Bullock | $70m

Sandra Bullock had a big pay cheque for her role in Gravity according to reports from The Hollywood Reporter, with the star inking a deal with Warner Bros. that saw her take an alleged $70m.

The actor is said to have earned $20m upfront for the sci-fi epic, and then she is said to have negotiated a deal which meant she earned 15% of profits.

Robert Downey Jr | 'Significantly more' than $80m

Robert Downey Jr. has famously had a number of big paydays thanks to his role as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor confirmed to GQ that he earned $50m for The Avengers in 2013, and he went on to beat this number with Avengers: Infinity War for which he earned a staggering $75m per The Hollywood Reporter.

The actor's success as Iron Man has meant he has since been tapped to return to the MCU, this time as Doctor Doom, and he has reportedly been offered "significantly more" than $80m to play the role in Avengers 5 and 6.

Keanu Reeves | $83m

Keanu Reeves is said to have earned a total of $250m from The Matrix trilogy where he played Neo, which comes to a total of $83m per film.

According to reports the actor agreed to a $15m fee upfront and negotiated a cut of the film's profits, which is why he had such a big payday.

Johnny Depp | $90m

Johnny Depp has had a few big pay cheques in his career, but the biggest is said to be for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, in which he played Captain Jack Sparrow over five films.

According to a report from Forbes, Depp had a deal to earn $90m per movie following the franchise's big success when it was first released.

Will Smith | $100m

Will Smith is said to have earned a huge $100m for his return to the Men in Black franchise for Men in Black 3 according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.

The actor took a step back from the spotlight last year after he slapped host Chris Rock at the Oscars during the 2022 ceremony for a joke the comedian had made about his wife.

Tom Cruise | $100m

Tom Cruise is another actor to have had multiple big pay cheques, with the actor reported to have earned $75m for Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol and $70m for Mission: Impossible.

But his biggest pay cheque is said to be 2022's Top Gun: Maverick, for which he earned a total of $100m after its huge box office success.

Bruce Willis | $115m

The biggest payday of all, though, is said to be for Bruce Willis as the actor is reported to have earned a huge $115m for The Sixth Sense.

The actor earned a $20m salary and negotiated for 17% of the film's global box office gross, which meant that he earned the big total.