The Highest-Paid Actors May Not Have Most Public Clout

Julia Roberts is also one of the year’s most underpaid actresses compared to her public clout. Roberts, who recently took her first major network role in this year’s “Homecoming” on Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video, pulled in $13 million, putting her in seventh place among the highest-paid actresses, but in fourth place when it comes to her ability to bring in an audience.

A majority (54 percent) of the public said Roberts starring in a film or TV show would make them more likely to tune in, while 42 percent said her casting wouldn’t make a difference or they’d be less likely to watch.

“Ocean's 8” actress Cate Blanchett, in comparison, earned a similar amount ($12.5 million) but her affiliation with a show wouldn’t necessarily bring in viewers. Roughly three in 10 (29 percent) said they would be more likely to watch something if Blanchett were in the cast, but a majority said she would have no impact on their viewership (52 percent) or they would be less likely to watch (11 percent).

The survey was conducted among 2,201 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 2 percentage points. Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan, who earned $40.5 and $38.5 million respectively, were among Forbes’ top-earning actors but were excluded from the poll due to their low profile in the United States.

Blanchett’s salary last year puts her low on Forbes’ lists, and she’s in good company: All of the actresses on the list made less than their male counterparts, save “Avengers” star Scarlett Johansson.

The entertainment industry continues to wrestle with gender pay equality, especially when actors’ salaries become public, as was the case with Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams’ reported $1.49-million-pay gap during reshoots in 2017’s (paradoxically named) film “All the Money in the World,” according to USA Today.

As on Forbes’ lists, where the top six highest-paid Hollywood figures were all men, Morning Consult’s analysis of the stars’ marketability also found a gender disparity.

ncG1vNJzZmiooqR7rrvRp6Cnn5Oku7TBy61lnKedZK6zwMico56rX522qLTErKtmqJGesW6twq2mq6tdoq66ec2oq2agkauybrnOrKtmqKWXuaqvjJyjqK2k