Compared to the average American’s salary, the amount of money famous actors receive for film and television projects seems astronomical. For example, Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson raked in over $65 million dollars each in 2017, according to Forbes.
However, multimillion-dollar paychecks weren’t always a reality. Back in the 1950s, leading actors were signed to contracts by Hollywood studios and were paid modest salaries compared to today’s huge paychecks. (For example, Marilyn Monroe was reportedly only paid $1,500 a week, or a total of $18,000, for the 1953 movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” In 2018, that would be about $153,000.)
This all changed when, in the 1990s, Hollywood salaries hit record highs due to the belief that certain actors could guarantee blockbuster opening weekends simply by headlining the movie. Nowadays, movie studios have less faith in celebrities and more in the power of a franchise movie, but famous actors can still demand a pretty penny. Here’s a look at the highest-paying TV and film roles of all time.
