Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Leonardo DiCaprio topped it for the first time, flying past last year's winner, Johnny Depp. DiCaprio, 36, landed huge paydays for blockbusters Inception and Shutter Island, reportedly earning over $50 million for the former thanks to a contract guaranteeing him a percentage of the profits. It brought Forbes' grand total of the actor's earnings to $77 million between May 2010 and May 2011.
His earnings last year were approximately $75 million, dropped to number two with $50 million. He was trailed by comedian, actor, singer, producer Adam Sandler. The 44-year-old funnyman earned an estimated $40 million last year.
Will Smith and Tom Hanks rounded out the top five with $36 million and $35 million, respectively.On the actresses list, which was released last month, Angelina Jolie and Sarah Jessica Parker tied for first, both earning $30 million.
Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon also tied for a close spot behind Jolie, 36, and Parker, 46, earning $28 million each. And even though her career has been in a downswing, Julia Roberts came in fifth with $20 million thanks to her mega-hit Eat, Pray, Love.
In evidence that there's still a huge divide between men and women in Hollywood, the highest-earning actresses raked in less than half of DiCaprio's pay.Each year, Forbes compiles data from agents, lawyers, producers and other industry insiders to estimate actors' earnings.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Channeling Gwyneth Paltrow and other "hands-on" celebs with children, Sarah Jessica Parker tells Vogue magazine she is just like any normal busy career mom. We don't have any live-in help. We're pretty hands-on parents. That's something that's important to both of us, and we don't shirk it.
Her streaked hair brushed back in a sexy librarian bun. A black leather rope belt tied in a loose school-girl bow accentuates her Scarlett O'Hara waist.But it's her flawless face (sans signature mole, which she had removed a few years ago) and perfect white peppermint gum teeth that really pop. The 46-year-old's image was undoubtedly Photoshopped, an irony considering the issue's focus is on aging.
The magazine has featured her face and fashion friendly figure to sell copies six times before, including another age issue cover in 2003. Some critics have noted the magazine relies too much on Parker, Paltrow and other celebrity staples and should branch out more with millennial actresses like Emma Stone and Dakota Fanning. A cynical commenter to a New York magazine article called Vogue's cliche cover choices, "Uninspiring . . . repetitive Hollywood stars blabbing about their 'busy lives while handling family. For Parker, appearing on the Vogue cover was a great publicity coup for her upcoming movie, "I Don't Know How She Does It" slated for a September 16 release. The wife of Ferris Bueller a.k.a. Matthew Broderick plays a frazzled career mom who must divide her time between a high-pressure job, neglected husband and two cherubic children.
Carrie Bradshaw, some skeptical moms question how hands-on she can be when she employs two nannies (one for twin toddlers Loretta and Tabitha and the other for 8-year-old James Wilkie). Though these jabs may sound judgmental, Parker ironically enters the mommy war battle zone herself when she asks, "What's the point in having a family if you're not going to really participate. It's all relative, of course. Photos of Parker in Vogue wearing smart fashions while playing with her children do not exactly remind most moms -- who are more likely to be wearing jeans and a tank top than a Chanel tweed jacket.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Keri Russell was born on 23March 1976 in Fountain Valley. Her father was an automotive executive, which led to several family relocations including a move to Mesa, AZ when she was young. While in Mesa, Russell began studying ballet and jazz dance, eventually touring the country with a dance and drill team.
A chance discovery by a talent scout who saw photos of her performing led to various television appearances and culminated in a three-year gig as a regular performer on The Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club" from 1991 through 1994. Russell's co-stars during her tenure included fellow future stars Justin Timberlake.
Eventually, Russell left the Disney fold to try her hand at different television series and movies, including the short-lived Dudley Moore sitcom "Daddy's Girls" (1993-94). She moved on to play an innocent babysitter trapped in a web of deceit when she is framed for her employer's murder in "The Babysitter's Seduction" (1996), and snared a starring role in the indie "The Lottery" (1996), a small town thriller loosely based on the Shirley Jackson short story.
Back on television, she played a high school senior and single mom determined to build a better life for her and her child by going to college in "When Innocence Was Lost" (Lifetime, 1997). After a guest spot on "7th Heaven" (WB, 1996-2007), Russell made another attempt at landing steady series work with the offbeat "Roar" (Fox, 1997), a medieval action-drama for teens that featured an up-and-coming Heath Ledger.
Sarah Jessica Parker was born on 25 March 1965 in Nelsonville, Ohio. The fourth of eight siblings, Parker grew up in relative poverty.After her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother, a school teacher, and her often out-of-work stepfather.
At the American Ballet Theater and the New York Professional Children's School along the way, Parker started to gain national attention in the early 1980s. She made her film debut in 1979 with Rich Kids, co-starring John Lithgow, Trini Alvarado and Olympia Dukakis.
Shortly after, she received further celebrity with her supporting role in the 1984 hit Footloose. The following year, she starred alongside a very young Helen Hunt in Girls Just Want to Have Fun. The actor's success in both films paved the way for steady work, both on the big screen and on TV with such shows as Equal Justice, through the rest of the decade.
Then earning both critical and cult credibility as Nicholas Cage's fiancée in Honeymoon in Vegas (1992). She also played the wife of schlockmeister Ed Wood in Tim Burton's celebrated 1994 film.The mid-1990s saw Parker in a handful of middle-of-the-road supporting roles, including Miami Rhapsody (1995), The First Wives Club and Mars Attacks! (both 1996).