Nicole Kidman tops Forbes‘ second annual list of the Most Overpaid Stars (up from No. 2 last year). Given Kidman’s cold streak (a pattern we noticed a while back), it’s no surprise that Forbes finds her grosses-to-salary ratio the riskiest return on investment in Hollywood. It’s also no surprise to see Tom Cruise or J. Lo on this list (Forbes goes by the earnings of each star’s last three movies). On the other hand, Jennifer Garner? Are her grosses that low, even with her modest salary, that she belongs on this list? And Will Ferrell? (Maybe if the list took Semi-Pro into account, but it doesn’t.) I’ve questioned the list’s methodology before, but even if it’s accurate, I doubt it’s going to change any studio executive’s mind about paying these stars their asking price. As far as Hollywood and the public are concerned, Kidman is a glamorous, Oscar-winning A-lister, Garner is the next Sandra Bullock, and Ferrell is the king of lowbrow comedy, no matter what the number-crunchers say.
But we know better, don’t we, PopWatchers? Who would you say is overpaid in Hollywood? Who’s earning their keep? And who is a bargain?
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Of all the actors you mentioned, I like Will Ferrell the best. So I don’t mind that he has a high price, because he more or less deserves it. But to answer your question, no, I don’t think most of these stars are earning their “keep.” And I might be in the minority here, but I don’t think of Jennifer Garner as the next Sandra Bullock. I don’t think of her at all, in fact. Or J. Lo for that matter. The last thing she did to get into the spotlight was have babies.
I voted “All of the Above” on a similar poll. It boggles my mind that some entertainers earn so much (producers, directors, singers, and sports stars included).
The cast of The Hills. Oh and Gary, that pix of Kidman is cree-py.
is being the next Sandra Bullock a good thing? her movies don’t make $ anymore and she’s never been Oscar-worthy.
Can anyone top this list other than Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Alba?
Nicole Kidman is overpaid and over-rated. Not everyone in the public thinks she is glamorous or elegant. Her frozen face is strange looking and her hair only looks good when she wears her wigs.
WTH happened to Nicole Kidman’s face? She looks as though somebody went crazy with a few markers.
Basically, I am amazed that anybody pays Adam Sandler to make movies.
There are only a few actors or actresses who get me in the theater just because they are in a movie.
Don Cheadle, Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman and maybe a few others. Mostly because they choose movies that say something and they tend to make bad movies good and good movies great.
Jennifer Garner is the next Sandra Bullock? Does Jennifer Garner even have an ounce of charisma? In my mind, Jen has a really long way to go before becoming the next Sandra Bullock.
Well as much as I love Jen Garner (Sydney from Alias is my hero and going to be the name of my firstborn), I can tell you one actress who truly earns her paycheck: Kate Winslet! It still baffles me to this day that she does not have an Oscar! What the H Academy!
I actually agreed with most people on the list being over paid. Especially Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Gardner. their movies usually do at best semi-decent in theaters, and bad enough for youto wonder how they even get in movies. I personally think Lindsey Lohan, Jessica Alba, and Hilary Swank are overpaid too.
J. Lo and Tom Cruise are two people I just don’t get. I’ve never understood the public interest and can’t figure why they earn the paychecks that they do. I have no idea what Ryan Goslings asking price is nor do I know what Christian Bale makes but I am positive they earn what they ask for. Everything they do is phenominal.
That’s a terrible picture of Nicole. It looks like she’s got the Mr. Potato Head lips on.
I was a huge Alias fan. Yet, I’ve never understood the hype around Jennifer Garner. Outside of 13 Going on 30, she hasn’t had a single success.
Alias was a cult hit- she never had the star power to make it a true hit, even after it was aired after Lost. And she couldn’t protect Alias’ ratings from the “Save MV” campaign, either.
Elektra and Catch and Release were both bombs. And don’t just blame the movies themselves: if Garner had true star power, then they would have opened big and had big drops in the second week. Yet both of these films were DOA.
She couldn’t even improve the audience for The Kingdom. And let’s face it, no one went to see Juno because of Garner.
The truth is that no one would care about Jennifer Garner today if she hadn’t gotten knocked up by Ben Affleck, trapped him into marriage, and then bombard us with daily photo-ops with her kid.
Yet hype only goes so far. Garner needs to actually do good work now to sustain her career.
Nicole Kidman is a good actress, but she has zero appeal or charisma. She should stick to indie movies and show-off her acting.
Jen Garner has no appeal period. She’s too masculine and her acting is robotic.
These women are glamorous as far as Hollywood and *the media* are concerned, not the public. That’s why we don’t go see their movies.
If my memory serves me right, I could’ve sworn popwatch mentioned this topic once or twice before.
I’m not so sure about Tom Cruise. I’m no longer a fan after his comments about postpartum depression and all, and I know his movies underperform, but do they actually bomb?
actors who don’t “earn their keep”: Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Mike Myers, Eddy Murphy, and Lindsey Lohan.
I second the name of Kate Winslet as one who is under-valued in Hollywood.
What an amazing actress, in everything, light or heavy. Her turn in “Little Children” was spectacular.
I also would rate Matt Damon as the most appealing male movie star, atm, along with Mark Ruffalo.
Over-paid? Demi Moore.
I actually agree with everyone on the list. I trust this list more than people’s impressions of which star does well or not. Either they earn the money or they don’t.
Maybe Hollywood execs and the press should start to pay attention to movies that people actually attend.
I think people choose movies based on what they’re about, not who’s starring in them.
The fact is this list is ridiculous. There’s more to casting than just money (granted, that’s probably the biggest part, but still…) and more reasons for a film not to do well than the casting. When they cast stars, they’re casting more than paydays but types. Like the blog says, Kidman is the old-Hollywood class, Garner is the girl-next-door. It doesn’t really matter how much their movies make, they’ll get cast because even if it’s just the media that loves them, Hollywood only knows what media tells them. They have no idea what people actually think, nor do they care. They know what type they want, they know what type these actresses are.
And I say this as a fan of Kidman (Birth is one of the most underrated movies I’ve ever seen, and she’s amazing in it), Garner (so far only really liked “Alias”), and Ferrall (by this point he’s on the fence with Jennifer Garner though).
The last movie Nicole Kidman was in that was good was The Others and Moulin Rogue and those movies came out like 7 years ago. She’s just like Meg Ryan, they messed up their face and are not bankable.
I use to love J-Lo but i agree she isn’t worth what she is paid and Jennifer Garner is no new Sandra Bullock. I loved her on Alias but she has no appeal at the box office. She’s too boring.
If anyone Rachel McAdams (if she would ever come back) could be the new Julie Roberts/Sandra Bullock/Nicole Kidman all mixed in one.
I agree that Hollywood and the media don’t seem to care about what the public thinks, but maybe if they started to care, they’d see attendance increase at the movies. They need to realize that just putting a “star” in a film doesn’t mean it will succeed. I didn’t know who Christian Bale was before Batman, but I still went to see it. Doesn’t mean I’ll see anything else he does. Same with everyone on this list.
And add Jessica Alba to this list of overpaid celebs.
Or maybe no one’s actually worth millions of dollars just to emote and say lines written by someone else? Therefore, aren’t all well-known hollywood actors overpaid?
Eddie Murphy is overpaid. I’m also ready to kick him out of the country for the barrage or craptacular films he’s made in the last few years (except for Dreamgirls). J.Lo is defintely overpaid (who cares about her now that’s she married to Skeletor?), so is Nicole and Tom Cruise.
What about a list that states the most overhyped actors? Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan and Keira Knightley would for sure top that list.
Stars not earning their keep – Jessica Alba! Yes, she is beautiful, but she isn’t much of an actress. And her last 3 films – The Love Guru (one of the worst reviewed films of the year), The Eye, and Awake…seriously. overpaid.
Dane Cook. Seriously, how many of his movies have to tank before Hollywood realizes that he really and truly sucks. Just stop already. Really. Right now.
Who earns their paychecks, Morgan Freeman,Edward Norton, William H. Macy,Helen Mirren , Anne Hathaway, Meryl Steep, Joaquin Phoenix
Jessica Alba has to be the WORST actress ever next to Lindsey Lohan of course. And I don’t think that scarlett johansson is that great either.
I think all actors are overpaid. But hey…
Cate Blanchett shouldn’t be on the list. She’s worth every penny- Every time.
Will Farrell is definitely overpaid. And overrated.
Ditto for Cameron Diaz (who should be number 1).
They mention Jennifer Garner’s Catch and Release and The Kingdom under-performing, but didn’t Juno make up for that in spades? I think she earns her keep.
At this point I’d have to say Christian Bale is a bargain at whatever price he makes.
And Russell Crowe, of course
If fame and salary were based on talent, then: Ryan Gosling, John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christian Bale, Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor would all be big stars with even bigger paychecks. Ahh, in a perfect world …