Julia Roberts tops list of high-paid actresses
From Peter David

LOS ANGELES—She traded Hollywood for motherhood and did not star in a movie this year, but Julia Roberts still ranks as Hollywood’s highest-paid actress at $20 million a film, according to an annual power list. The Hollywood Reporter, an entertainment paper on Wednesday published its annual list of the top-earning actresses, putting Nicole Kidman just behind Roberts at No. 2.
Kidman commands an estimated $16 million to $17 million per movie, the Reporter said. The No. 3 and No. 4 spots were held by Reese Witherspoon, currently starring in Oscar hopeful “Walk the Line,” and Drew Barrymore, both of whom take in $15 million a movie. Roberts, with her broad smile and infectious all-American style, earned an Oscar for playing feisty consumer advocate Erin Brockovich in the 2000 movie of the same name. That role and her ability to lure audiences into theatres in movies like “Ocean’s Eleven” put her in the ranks of $20 million-plus movie actors, a realm previously reserved for hugely popular actors like Tom Cruise.
Roberts, 38, put her career on hold in 2004 and 2005. She gave birth in November of last year to twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel, and is married to cameraman Danny Moder. Three actresses, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz, all had salaries estimated between $10 million and $15 million per film, the No. 5, 6 and 7 positions on the list.
Jodie Foster, who starred in the recent thriller “Flight Plan,” returned to the list for the first time since 2002 at No. 8 with an asking price from $10 million to $12 million. Charlize Theron made her debut in the No. 9 spot at a flat $10 million, and the No. 10 position belonged to Jennifer Aniston, who was said to make $9 million a movie. The list of top-earning actresses is part of the Reporter’s annual Women in Entertainment Power 100 issue, which hits stands December 6.