Skip to main content

Jennifer Lawrence is the highest-paid 2016 Oscar nominee, with $52 million earned in 2015

Women may be making less than men much of the time in Hollywood, but Jennifer Lawrence beat the boys when Forbes looked at the 2016 Oscar nominees’ earnings from June 2014 to June 2015. Compared to all nominees in the Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories, the one-time Academy Award winner emerged as the highest-paid, bringing in an estimated $52 million during the qualifying period.

Lawrence was the only actress truly in contention. Neither her fellow Best Actress nominees (Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan, Brie Larson, and Charlotte Rampling) nor anyone from the Best Supporting Actress field (Rooney Mara, Alicia Vikander, Kate Winslet, Rachel McAdams, and Jennifer Jason Leigh) earned more than $6 million over the year. Lawrence’s massive paychecks came from starring in the latest Hunger Games film, Mockingjay — Part 2, as well as upfront compensation for her role in Joy and her contract with Dior.

Recommended Videos

Lawrence also topped Forbes’ ranking of the year’s highest-paid actresses and out-earned nearly all of the men on the publication’s list of highest-paid actors as well. Only Robert Downey Jr. made more; the actor brought in an estimated $80 million, thanks in large part to the Marvel blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The ranking only included two Best Actor nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio (in 13th place, with $29 million) and Matt Damon (in 20th place, with $25 million). Their fellow contenders (Bryan Cranston, Michael Fassbender, and Eddie Redmayne) were left off the list, along with all of the Best Supporting Actor nominees (Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Mark Ruffalo, Mark Rylance, and Sylvester Stallone).

Over the past several years, Lawrence has become something of a perpetual Oscar nominee, racking up her fourth nod with 2015’s Joy. At 25, the actress, who won Best Actress with 2012’s Silver Lining’s Playbook, is the youngest person to have accumulated so many nominations. If she wins an Academy Award at this year’s show, it’ll mark the first time the highest-paid actress in the world has won an Oscar in the same year.

Stephanie Topacio Long
Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…
3 rom-coms on Netflix you need to watch in July 2025
A woman and a man stand next to each other.

The romance section on Netflix has some heavy hitters in July. What's more romantic than The Notebook? The beautiful drama starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams has not aged one bit. Trust me, crying remains mandatory, especially at the end. Speaking of tears, A Star Is Born will have you riding the entire wave of emotions from start to finish.

While those two movies are undoubtedly charming, they will leave you in a puddle. This article features three rom-coms that should put you in a better mood. Check out our picks and their streaming information below. 

Read more
3 underrated HBO Max movies you should watch this weekend (July 11-13)
A group of people stand in a line and look.

Last week marked the arrival of Sinners, which is in the running for the movie event of 2025. Ryan Coogler's vampiric horror stars Michael Jordan as twin brothers who return to their hometown to open a juke joint. The opening night transforms into a nightmare with the arrival of a supernatural creature with sinister intentions.

Sinners is now available to stream on the newly named HBO Max. Beyond Sinners, the streamer has an abundance of underrated movies waiting to be streamed. One of our picks is The Suicide Squad, James Gunn's first crack at a DC story. View all three selections below.

Read more
3 underrated Amazon Prime Video movies you should watch this weekend (July 11-13)
Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory.

Finding a movie to watch on a hot July weekend can be difficult, especially when you feel like you've watched everything obvious. If you're sick of scrolling through Amazon Prime Video and spending more time looking at titles than actually watching one, then we've got you covered.

We've pulled together a list of three underrated movies that are all available on Prime Video. While these movies might have made an impact upon their release, they aren't as well remembered as they should be. Here's why you should check them out.

Read more