LOS ANGELES • Jennifer Lawrence was named the world's highest-paid actress for the second year running in a list that saw the debut of India's Deepika Padukone.

The American actress pulled in US$46 million (S$62.2 million) this year, according to the Forbes magazine list released on Tuesday.

China's Fan Bingbing also made the list for the second consecutive year, taking fifth position with US$17 million, while Padukone debuted at No. 10 with US$10 million.

Lawrence, 26, made most of her money from a profit share in the final Hunger Games movie, which grossed US$650 million, Forbes said.

An upfront fee for the forthcoming space thriller Passengers also helped her to push her pay above second-ranked Melissa McCarthy, who pocketed US$33 million.

The 10 actresses made a combined US$205 million in the 12 months from June last year before fees and taxes, said Forbes.

The actors' list due to be published today is expected to show once again the men banking in far more than their female counterparts.

Forbes' highest-paid celebrities list this year showed the highest-paid actor as Dwayne Johnson, 44, who earned US$64.5 million.

Four actresses this year, up from three last year, earned more than US$20 million each, compared with 18 of the world's leading men, Forbes said.

The issue of pay disparity grabbed headlines in 2014 after a leak of stolen e-mail messages from Sony Pictures Entertainment showed that Lawrence was paid less than her male co-stars in the hit movie, American Hustle (2013).

She wrote publicly about negotiating for deals and being "over trying to find the 'adorable' way to state my opinion and still be likable".

Actress Patricia Arquette, 48, also railed against the industry's gender- based wage gap during her acceptance speech after winning a statuette at last year's Academy Awards.

Lawrence is down from her US$52 million estimated earnings in last year's list, although she is still considered Hollywood's hottest property by some distance.

McCarthy, 45, earned US$10 million more than the 2015 estimate, thanks to a reported eight-figure payday for Ghostbusters (2016) and she also designs her own clothing line.

Perennial A-list darling Scarlett Johansson, 31, came in third with US$25 million - she was reportedly paid US$17.5 million for next year's Ghost In The Shell - while Jennifer Aniston, 47, who makes most of her cash through endorsements, came in fourth by bagging US$21 million.

Padukone, 30, has scored box-office gold in Bollywood movies such as 2015's Bajirao Mastani and Piku, said Forbes.

It added that she earned far less than her Tinseltown counterparts for her Bollywood roles, but was compensated with more than a dozen lucrative endorsements.

She makes her Hollywood debut next year alongside Vin Diesel in xXx: Return Of Xander Cage.

Fan, 34, re-joined the list, thanks to movies such as Skiptrace (2016) and Lady Of The Dynasty (2015), Forbes said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, WASHINGTON POST