The top 10 actresses on Forbes’ 2014 list of Highest Paid TV Actresses made a combined $120 million – a considerable step up since the days of stay at home wives and soccer moms. Despite their efforts, everyone knows that Hollywood is a male dominated industry. The 10 leading TV actors in Hollywood continue to be the highest earning bread-winners, reaching combined earnings of $214 million, a considerable amount more than the ladies.
That’s not to say the ladies did not shine this year. In fact, their earnings have increased by a hell of a lot over the years. ABC’s Modern Family’s starlet, Sofia Vergara, came in at Nº1 with an estimated $37 million (out-earning Forbes’ second highest-earning star by $24 million), while Mariska Hargitay from NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit came in at second place with an estimated $13 million and CBS’s sweetheart from The Big Bang Theory, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, came in third place with an estimated $11 million.
1. Sofia Vergara ($37 million)
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For the third year running, Sofia Vergara, the incredibly sexy 41 year-old Columbian native who plays Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the hit TV show Modern Family, continues to cash in the biggest checks in Hollywood as the top earning TV actress. However, the dollars flowing her way are not only due to her reported $32,000 per episode she stars in on Modern Family. Vergara has secured endorsement deals with Diet Pepsi, Cover Girl, Head & Shoulders and AT&T, amongst others. She’s also landed great movie roles in, for example, John Favreau’s 2014 indie film Chef (an absolute MUST see) and Woody Allen’s most recent comedy, Fading Gigolo, and has a 12-year contract with K-Mart, as well as her very own fragrance. Indeed, her success is due to far more than her Latino sex appeal and brilliant attitude on and off-screen… The woman has brains! – she’s even co-founded Latin World Entertainment, a talent management and entertainment-marketing firm, and is launching a Spanish-language tech news site. Keep looking fab and rocking it mamacita!
2. Mariska Hargitay ($13 million)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actress, Mariska Hargitay, comes in at second place for highest earning TV actress for the second year in a row. Following her Emmy and Golden Globe winning performance as Detective Olivia Benson, Hargitay received an increase in salary to $450,000 per episode. Mariska’s stardom has since had a positive knock-on effect on the show, which was renewed for a 16th season, receiving a double-digit increase in viewership. What’s more, the actress earns notable profits from considerable syndication of SVU. Off-screen, Hargitay runs a non-profit organisation, The Joyful Heart Organisation, as a means to confront childhood sexual abuse.
3. Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting ($11 million)
Taking home a reported $350,000 per episode for Chuck Lorre’s top rated comedy, The Big Bang Theory, and profits from extensive syndication of the show, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, at just 28 years old, is one of the youngest actresses on Forbes’ list. What’s more, Cuoco and the rest of The Big Bang Theory gang have recently renegotiated their salaries for a noteworthy raise that is reportedly worth $1 million per episode! Cuoco also has an endorsement deal with Priceline and Toyota and has teamed up with the hilarious Kevin Heart in a The Wedding Ringer, due to be released in 2015.
4. Julianna Margulies ($10 million)
The 48 year-old Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actress and producer, Julianna Margulies, best known for her knock-out roles as Nurse Carol Hathaway on ER and currently as Alicia Florrick, the ruthless wife, mother and attorney in The Good Wife, has earned a whopping $10 million this year. Aside from her $6.5 million proceeds solely for her roles as actress and producer of The Good Wife, Margulies yields a considerable sum from a multi-window syndication deal for the show as well as a rewarding L’Oreal contract (yes, she does have remarkable hair!). All of the above has helped Margulies move up 9 spots from last year’s ranking. Yes, Margulies has made a killing this year!
5. Ellen Pompeo ($10 million)
Ellen Pompeo’s role as Merdith Grey on the long-time running hit TV series Grey’s Anatomy still has her cashing in millions. The show is ABC’s third top ranking series amongst the adult demographic, falling shortly behind Castle and Scandal.
6. Cobie Smulders ($10 million)
32 year-old Vancouver-native, Cobie Smulders, who stars in CBS’s sitcom How I Met Your Mother earned a reported $34,000 per episode of the show’s final season. Smulders made additional profits from her roles in Captain America: Winter Soldier, The Lego Movie, and in other smaller movies. On top of that, she earned almost $1.5 million in syndication revenues from HIMYM. Smulders has moved up the ladder on Forbes list this year. Although the end of HIMYM has opened a new chapter in her career, she is to continue to appear on the big screen. Look out for her in the Avengers: Age of Ultron– to be released in 2015.
7. Allison Hannigan ($9.5 million)
Like her co-star Smulders, Allison Hannigan earned a reported $35,000 per episode of the final season of HIMYM. Along with the rise in syndication revenues from the show’s ninth season, Hannigan has moved up Forbes’ list by a few slots. In her next role, Hannigan is to star in Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s sitcom More Time With Family, on CBS.
8. Amy Poehler ($7 million)
For her role as Leslie Knope, in the sixth season of NBC’s sitcom Parks & Recreation, Amy Poehler earned almost $4.5 million. Adding $2 million into the mix for her Old Navy endorsement deal and yields from her role in They Came Together, the star reached the $7 million mark. It looks like Poehler has another successful year ahead; Parks & Rec has been green lighted for a seventh season, and Poehler is working on a new comedy, co-starring Natasha Lyonne from Orange is the New Black.
9. Mindy Kaling ($6.5 million)
After having cashed in a decent sum from The Mindy Project, in which Kaling acts as writer and producer, the comedienne has also earned additional profits from her exclusive syndication deal with Hulu Plus for the popular sitcom, and continues to receive syndication profits and residuals from The Office. Plus her endorsement deal with XFinity, Kaling is up by $2 million since last year. Her new movie, which she co-wrote, and which stars Anne Hathaway, is expected to be released on the Big Screen in 2015.
10. Kerry Washington ($6 million)
Scandal star, Kerry Washington, has doubled her revenue since last year by taking home big chunks of her pay check from endorsement deals with Movado and Neutrogena. It’s been a fantastic year for Miss Washington, A.KA. The Gladiator in a Suit – not only did she earn a killing, she recently married NFL player Nnamadi Asomugha and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She also made it to Time’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Click here for Forbes’ full list of Hollywood’s leading actresses of 2014.
“Forbes’s list is determined by estimating pre-tax earnings between June 2013 and June 2014 from the actresses’ TV work, endorsements, residuals and advertising work, and by talking to agents, managers and lawyers. The estimate does not include management fees and other expenses.”
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