In 2010, that reputation helped DiCaprio become the highest-earning actor in Hollywood. His two big movies, Shutter Island and Inception, earned a combined $1.2 billion. Shutter Island was DiCaprio’s fourth collaboration with Scorsese and Inception was directed by Christopher Nolan.
DiCaprio always gets a healthy upfront fee to appear in movies, but with these two films, he also got a solid chunk of the profits. We estimate that between May 2010 and May 2011, DiCaprio earned $77 million.
Johnny Depp is another actor who gained fame at a young age and refused to take the obvious path. After the success of the TV show 21 Jump Street, Depp easily could have become an action star but he preferred to work with offbeat directors like Tim Burton and John Waters. Like DiCaprio, Depp’s early choices weren’t always hits. But his insistence on making each role his own paid off with 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Based on the popular Disney ride the movie easily could have been just another summer blockbuster but Depp’s bizarre turn as Captain Jack Sparrow created a character that has become as important to Disney as Peter Pan. The four Pirates movie have so far earned $3.7 billion at the global box office. Jack Sparrow was added to the Pirates ride and Depp can now demand a huge sum for each new movie.
The actor earn an estimated $50 million between May 2010 and May 2011.
Taking the path less traveled isn’t always the key to making it big in Hollywood. Just look at
Adam Sandler, who ranks third on our list with an estimated $40 million.
During his years on Saturday Night Live Sandler made us laugh while consistently playing a kind of man-child. He carried that persona over to the movies with films like Billy Madison and The Waterboy. As long as Sandler sticks to playing a stunted adult his films are huge hits. His recent film, Grown Ups, was his highest-grossing of all time with $271 million.
But when Sandler strays his films tend to flop. In Funny People, from director Judd Apatow, Sandler played an aging, lonely comedian dealing with a life-threatening illness. The film was a bust, earning only $71 million.
