The Forbes' Highest Paid Actors 2012-13

RDJ is the highest paid actor in Hollywood

In Hollywood, salary is all about power and influence; how much an actor/actress is paid reflects their box-office potential and how much interest they generate in a movie. As a result, Forbes' Magazine's annual list of highest paid actors is a great way to gauge who has the power in Tinseltown in the last twelve months...

Now, as you would expect, there are some really obvious inclusions on the list (listed in full at the bottom of the page). For starters, it is no surprise to me that Robert Downey Jnr. tops this list with a gigantic $75 million in earnings across the last twelve months.

Star turns in Marvel powerhouse's The Avengers (which raked in $1.5 billion) and Iron Man 3 (which has also exceeded $1 billion) has meant RDJ is one of the most bankable stars out right now.

Tom Cruise has earned $35 million between
Rock of Ages, Jack Reacher and Oblivion

Meanwhile, other big names in the list come as no surprise; Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables, Rise of the Guardians) sits in 3rd after taking home $55 million and Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained, The Great Gatsby) is ranked at 6th with $39 million.

Also, with 2013 being the "Year of the Rock", it is no surprise that Dwayne Johnson is ranked pretty high with $46 million - in the last 12 months, The Rock has been in Fast and Furious 6, Pain and Gain, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Snitch, Empire State and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

Also, Mark Wahlberg has been hard at work this last year (Contraband, Ted, Pain and Gain, Broken City and 2 Guns) and the result is $52 million, making him the 4th highest-placed actor in Hollywood.

There are some inclusions that really surprised me; Channing Tatum being placed so high-up on the list was a surprise but the guy has been in a lot recently and made a lot of money off of Magic Mike after partly financing it himself. On the flipside, Adam Sandler being paid $37 million a year to churn out shite like That's My Boy and Grown Ups 2 is a bit insulting to the rest of the guys on this list. Or is that just me?

Forbes Highest Paid Actors June 2012-2013

1. Robert Downey Jnr. - $75 million
2. Channing Tatum - $60 million
3. Hugh Jackman - $55 million
4. Mark Wahlberg - $52 million
5. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - $46 million
6. Leonardo DiCaprio - $39 million
7. Adam Sandler - $37 million
8. Tom Cruise - $35 million
9. Denzel Washington - $33 million
10. Liam Neeson - $32 million

For me, I'm surprised Daniel Craig and Bruce Willis aren't on this list after the success of Skyfall and Looper respectively. I'd also be really interested to see which actresses top their respective list; I'd wager it'd be someone like Kristen 'bored face' Stewart.

Check out the full list and let me know what you think; who do you think should be higher or lower on this list? Let me know in the comments section below!