Jennifer Lawrence ranked world’s highest paid-actress for second year

NEW YORK (Reuters) – “Hunger Games” star Jennifer Lawrence on Tuesday topped a Forbes magazine list of the world’s highest-paid actress for the second straight year, earning some $46 million, followed by Melissa McCarthy.

Lawrence, 26, took the top spot largely through a slice of the profits from the final movie in the “Hunger Games” franchise, as well as a big upfront fee for her forthcoming space adventure movie “Passengers,” Forbes said.

Yet Lawrence’s estimated payday was likely well below that for Hollywood’s leading men, Forbes said, despite the actress sparking a debate about the gender pay gap last year. She declared she was “finished being adorable” when it came to negotiating better deals for herself.

Lawrence’s 2016 earnings dropped 11.5 percent from her 2015 total of $52 million. Forbes will release its list of the world’s highest-paid actors on Thursday. Last year Robert Downey Jr. topped the list with an estimated $80 million.

Neither however came close to pop star Taylor Swift, who was named the top earning celebrity of 2016 earlier this year, pulling in an estimated $170 million from record sales and her world tour.

McCarthy took home $33 million in earnings, up $10 million from 2015 in part from her payday for the controversial female reboot of “Ghostbusters.”

It was the biggest annual paycheck to date for the star of television comedy “Mike and Molly.” McCarthy, 45, also launched a clothing line for sizes 4 to 28 after becoming frustrated at the outfits available for larger women.

Scarlett Johansson of “Captain America: Civil War” was third at $25 million, down nearly 30 percent from 2015.

Together, the world’s 10 highest-paid actresses tallied a combined $205 million between June 1, 2015 and June 1, 2016, before management fees and taxes, Forbes said.

The estimates include earnings from movies, TV and endorsements from cosmetic and other companies. Bollywood star Deepika Padukone is the only newcomer on the list.

The rest of the top 10 2016 highest-paid actresses are:

4. Jennifer Aniston – $21 million

5. Fan Bingbing – $17 million

6. Charlize Theron – $16.5 million

7. Amy Adams – $13.5 million

8. Julia Roberts – $12 million

9. Mila Kunis – $11 million

10. Deepika Padukone – $10 million

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant and Ian Simpson; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)