Robert Downey Jr. leads Forbes' highest-paid actors list again - Los Angeles Times
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Robert Downey Jr. leads Forbes’ highest-paid actors list again

Robert Downey Jr. with wife Susan at the 2012 premiere of "The Avengers." The actor tops Forbes' 2014 list of Hollywood's highest-paid actors.
(Jason Merritt / Getty Images)
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It’s good to be Iron Man — Robert Downey Jr. once again leads Forbes’ list of top-earning actors.

The movie star came in first for the second year in a row, the financial mag said, raking in an additional $75 million between June 2013 and June 2014.

The magazine touted the 49-year-old as “indisposable” to the Disney-owned Marvel franchise, with Mickey Mouse willing to pay Downey Jr. “whatever he demands” to ensure his involvement in the high-earning films.

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The actor, expecting a third child, his second with wife Susan, has appeared in three “Iron Man” movies as billionaire playboy-turned-superhero Tony Stark and reprised his role in the 2012 blockbuster “The Avengers, “ the third-highest-grossing film of all time.

Downey Jr. is filming “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” slated for release in 2015. He “held out” during contract negotiations for that film, Forbes reported.

Compared with Angelina Jolie’s $33 million in earnings for the year that ended in June 2013, there’s a stark male-female pay gap that has not gone unnoticed. The “Maleficent” star topped the magazine’s list of highest-paid actresses last year with that figure; this year’s actress list has yet to be released.

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Incidentally, when Downey Jr. made the pregnancy announcement this month, he said he didn’t “know if it’s a ‘man’s world’” but was “certain women run it.”

He and “The Hunger Games” star Jennifer Lawrence were the top actors on the magazine’s Celebrity 100, its list of most-powerful celebrities, which crowned singer Beyonce as 2014’s most famous of them all. Downey Jr. came in at No. 10, and 23-year-old Lawrence locked in the No. 12 spot.

Coming in second — and $23 million lower — on the list of 10 actors is “The Fast & the Furious” star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who earned $52 million. The former WWE star will next appear in the Grecian epic “Hercules,” which will be released on July 25.

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“American Hustle” star and Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper came in at No. 3 with an estimated $46 million for the year. Behind him was “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “The Great Gatsby” star and one-time list leader Leonardo DiCaprio. Downey Jr.’s “Avengers” costar Chris Hemsworth, who plays the demigod Thor in the franchise, came in at No. 5, earning $37 million thanks in part to his 2013 sequel, “Thor: The Dark World.”

In years past, blockbuster-franchise actors have often topped the list: “Mission Impossible’s” Tom Cruise with $75 million in 2012, “Pirates of the Caribbean’s” Johnny Depp with $75 million in 2010 and “Indiana Jones’” Harrison Ford with $65 million in 2009. Only DiCaprio — whose five collaborations with Martin Scorsese represent a different sort of franchise — managed to stay in the top 10 this year after leading the 2011 list with $77 million.

To calculate income, the mag consults agents, producers, lawyers and other “in-the-know folks” to calculate how much celebrities earned from entertainment-related work. The final figure doesn’t deduct taxes, agent fees or the sundry costs of being a celebrity.

There’s a reason there’s no top-earning celebrity blogger list, but follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad anyway.

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