Dwayne Johnson Tops Forbes List of Highest-Paid Hollywood Actors for 2020

August 14, 2020

The Rock is Hollywood's top-paid actor for a second year running, heading a list dominated by lucrative Netflix contracts

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been named Hollywood's top-paid actor for a second year running, heading a list dominated by lucrative Netflix contracts. The former professional wrestler banked US$87.5 million in the year ending June 2020, according to Forbes' annual ranking.

That figure—slightly down from last year's US$89.4 million haul, but comfortably ahead of second-placed Ryan Reynolds (US$71.5 million)—was boosted by Johnson's US$23.5 million fee for upcoming Netflix action flick Red Notice, as well as endorsements.

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Netflix shelled out more than a quarter of all the paychecks collected by this year's top 10.

Others benefiting from the streaming giant's US$140 million A-lister splurge included Reynolds (Six Underground and Red Notice), third-placed Mark Wahlberg (Spenser Confidential) and fourth-placed Ben Affleck (The Last Thing He Wanted).

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda made his debut on the list after Disney paid US$75 million for the movie rights to the smash-hit Broadway production, which soared on Disney+ streaming last month.

Perennials such as Bollywood megastar Akshay Kumar and martial arts legend Jackie Chan returned to the top 10, as did Will Smith and Adam Sandler.

Largely absent this year were the cast of Marvel's Avengers films—who dominated last year—with the record-breaking franchise taking an extended break from the big screen.

But Vin Diesel, lynchpin of the ever-popular Fast & Furious franchise, returned at number five with US$54 million.

The ranking does not include actresses, who will be featured in a separate list next month.

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The top 10

1. Dwayne Johnson (US$87.5 million)

2. Ryan Reynolds (US$71.5 million)

3. Mark Wahlberg (US$58 million)

4. Ben Affleck (US$55 million)

5. Vin Diesel (US$54 million)

6. Akshay Kumar (US$48.5 million)

7. Lin-Manuel Miranda (US$45.5 million)

8. Will Smith (US$44.5 million)

9. Adam Sandler (US$41 million)

10. Jackie Chan (US$40 million)