How Much Will Hollywood Pay You As An Actor?

The title of this article is phrased in the form of a question for a very specific reason.  It’s helpful to know that when working in Hollywood as an actor, the amount you will receive for starring in this summer’s blockbuster is directly related to how much money you command at the box office.

That is, your track record.  How profitable are the movies you’ve made in the past?  It’s expensive to make a Hollywood movie.  The big ones can run over $100million (yes, that’s one hundred million!) and the producers and studios want to make sure that they have a chance to make their money back once the movie comes out.

How do they make their money back?  Through box office ticket sales, DVD rentals and sales and merchandising.

Naturally, the more money your movies make through those avenues, the more money you will command.  See the correlation?

Will Smith, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio

Now I ask what do Will Smith, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio all have in common?

All Hollywood actors?  Yes.
Are always on the ‘Most Sexy’ list?  Sure, that doesn’t hurt.
But even more to the point, it’s this;

Will Smith, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio are currently Hollywood’s top 3 most valuable actors.  What does this mean?  Well, we’ve discussed in detail that show business is, of course, a business.  The goal of any business is simply to make money.  Hollywood (and movies) are no different.

Sure, the goal of a movie is to entertain the audience, but the producers cleverly cast and promote each movie to make the most money possible back at the box office and from DVD rentals/sales.

Forbes recently released an exclusive survey with input from the entertainment industry big wigs and came up with the top 10 most valuable actors in Hollywood.  Simply put, these guys (and 1 girl) make movies that bring in a ton of money at the box office worldwide.  That is what a bankable actor is.

The Top 10 Most Valuable Actors in Hollywood

• 1    Will Smith
• 2 (tie)    Johnny Depp
• 2 (tie)    Leonardo DiCaprio
• 2 (tie)    Angelina Jolie
• 2 (tie)    Brad Pitt
• 6    Tom Hanks
• 7    George Clooney
• 8    Denzel Washington
• 9    Matt Damon
• 10    Jack Nicholson

Show Me The Money

So now you have an idea of how Hollywood arrives at actor salaries.  If you have dreams to become the next to crack that top 10 list, keep in mind that you’ll have to make the movies that bring in a chunk of money.

Continue to dream big, set goals and become the best darn (rich) actor you can be!

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