Sofia Vergara is highest-paid actress on Forbes list
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
LOS ANGELES •Modern Family star Sofia Vergara has topped the Forbes list of the highest-paid actresses in the world, leading a charge by small-screen talent in a year when movie theatres have gone dark, the magazine said last Friday.
Vergara - who is also now a judge on America's Got Talent - earned a whopping US$43 million (S$59 million) in the past 12 months in salary and endorsements. She moved up from second place last year.
The 48-year-old Colombia-born actress earned US$500,000 an episode for the final season of Emmy-winning Modern Family (2009 to this year), which wrapped up in April.
Forbes estimated she would earn "at least US$10 million each season" for America's Got Talent, one of the most popular reality competition shows in the United States.
The coronavirus pandemic paralysed Hollywood, forcing crews to stop production and shuttering movie theatres, so many big-budget films have been delayed.
Many film stars also make money by earning a share of the profits - meaning if movies are not released in cinemas, their income plummets.
Nevertheless, Oscar winner Angelina Jolie was in second place on the Forbes list at US$35 million.
But actresses who make most of their money from television and/or streaming services made up the bulk of the list.
Wonder Woman (2017) star Gal Gadot came in third at US$31 million, but she made a chunk of her money from the Netflix film Red Notice. Grey's Anatomy (2005 to present) lead Ellen Pompeo was eighth at US$19 million, and The Handmaid's Tale (2017 to present) star Elisabeth Moss came in ninth at US$16 million.
Another Oscar winner, Viola Davis, made her first appearance on the top 10 list.
The How To Get Away With Murder (2014 to this year) actress - who will soon star in Netflix's adaptation of playwright August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - came in 10th at US$15.5 million.
Even the venerable Meryl Streep (fifth place) made most of her income in the past year from either films for streaming services or television roles.
In total, the top 10 highest-paid actresses in the world this year earned US$254 million in the 12 months leading up to June, Forbes said. That was down 20 per cent from last year.
The top 10 highest-paid actors made almost US$550 million in the same period. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson topped the list for the men at US$87.5 million.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
