Dwayne Johnson tops Forbes list of best paid actors

[LOS ANGELES] Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was named the world's highest paid actor by Forbes on Thursday, raking in US$64.5 million and snatching the title held for three consecutive years by Robert Downey Jr.

The 44-year-old former wrestler more than doubled his earnings from last year thanks to his role in the action comedy Central Intelligence, the eighth installment of the Fast & Furious racing franchise and the forthcoming Baywatch.

Johnson was ranked number 11 last year, earning some US$31 million in the 12 months from June 2014 to June 2015.

The actor, who stars in the HBO series Ballers, took to Twitter to express his delight at his new title.

"Want to say two things about this," he tweeted. "I started w/$7 bucks. If I can overcome, so can you. Waffle House on me!!"

Jackie Chan came in second on the Forbes list with US$61 million dollars followed by Matt Damon (US$55 million), Tom Cruise (US$53 million) and Johnny Depp (US$48 million).

Topping Forbes's list released earlier this week for highest-paid actresses was Jennifer Lawrence, who earned US$46 million - nearly US$20 million less than her male counterpart.

The disparity is sure to stoke an ongoing debate in Hollywood about the industry's gender pay gap.

Lawrence wrote a blunt essay on the issue last year after a leak of stolen emails from Sony Pictures showed she was paid less than her male co-stars in the hit movie American Hustle.

The world's 10 highest-paid actors made a combined US$456.5 million, according to Forbes, compared to the US$205 million earned by the top 10 actresses.

Rounding out the top 10 list for actors are: 6 Ben Affleck (US$43 million) 7 Vin Diesel (US$35 million) 8 Shah Rukh Khan (US$33 million) 9 Robert Downey Jr (US$33 million) 10 Akshay Kumar (US$31.5 million).

AFP