Jennifer Lawrence: Highest-Paid Oscar Nominee According To ‘Forbes’

Jennifer Lawrence has been very vocal about her dissatisfaction with the gender pay gap in Hollywood. Back in October 2015, the Hunger Games star broke her silence about the issue in a “scathing” essay for Lena Dunham’s newsletter Lenny. Jennifer wrote that she had previously avoided getting too political or trendy with her public discussions, but following the Sony hack which revealed how much less she was making than her male co-workers and counterparts, she realized how “pervasive and issue” the Hollywood gender gap was.

“I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need.”

Despite Jennifer Lawrence’s complaints about the pay disparity between the genders, or maybe because of them, Entertainment Weekly is now reporting that Lawrence was the highest-paid Oscar nominee, making an estimated $52 million pre-tax between June 2014 and June 2015. Her pay grade also put her at the top of Forbes ‘ “Highest Paid Actresses in Hollywood” list.

Jennifer Lawrence was nominated in the Best Actress category for her performance in the film Joy, making her the youngest person ever to receive four Academy Award nominations. Lawrence is competing against Cate Blanchett, nominated for Carol; Brie Larson, nominated for Room; Charlotte Rampling, nominated for 45 Years; and Saoirse Ronan, nominated for Brooklyn. None of the other Best Actress nominees made the Forbes list along with Jennifer Lawrence, nor did any of the actresses in the Best Supporting Actress category. The cut-off to make the “Highest Paid Actresses In Hollywood” list is $6 million.

Prior to Jennifer Lawrence this season, the last time an Oscar-nominated actress was also the top-paid actress in Hollywood was Sandra Bullock back in 2014. Bullock was nominated for Gravity. Forbes pointed out a critical difference between Jennifer Lawrence’s top-paid actress status and Bullock’s, though. While Bullock didn’t make the top of the list until after she was already an Oscar nominee, Jennifer Lawrence was already making more money than any other actress in Hollywood before she was nominated for her performance in Joy.

Despite being the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, Jennifer Lawrence’s considerable 2015 earnings are dwarfed by those of some of her male contemporaries. Topping the list of highest-paid actors is Robert Downey, Jr., who raked in an estimated $80 million from June 2014 to June 2015. Jackie Chan at $50 million and Vin Diesel at $47 million round out the top three highest-paid actors in Hollywood, reports Forbes . Unlike Lawrence, none of these actors were nominated for an Academy Award this season.

When it comes to the pay of actresses in Hollywood, the top three include Jennifer Lawrence at $52 million, Scarlett Johansson at $35.5 million, and Melissa McCarthy at $23 million, reports Forbes. Neither Johansson nor McCarthy were nominated for an Academy Award along with Lawrence.

When the pay rates of actors are compared with actresses, it is pretty easy to see why Jennifer Lawrence may have some complaints about the disparity, even though she’s by far the highest-paid Academy Award nominee of the year. Despite her two highly successful film franchises (X-Men and The Hunger Games ), Jennifer Lawrence made $28 million less than Robert Downey Jr. and only $2 million more than Jackie Chan.

The second-highest-paid actress in Hollywood, Scarlett Johansson, made $14.5 million less than the second highest-paid actor, Jackie Chan. The third-highest-paid actress, Melissa McCarthy, made less than half than Vin Diesel, at $23 million to his $47 million.

The 88th Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, February 28. As of now, the winners are anybody’s guess. It remains to be seen if Jennifer Lawrence will take the stage, let alone use the platform to further address the disparity between the wages of men and women in Hollywood.

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