Most of Mark Wahlberg’s movies weren’t very profitable last year — so why was he the highest paid actor?
The numbers are in, and Mark Wahlberg is the highest paid actor in Hollywood. According to Forbes, the star of Transformers: The Last Knight and All the Money in the World made $68 million in 2017 before taxes.
But films Wahlberg starred in this year consistently flopped at the box office. As Forbes reports, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day made barely more than their budgets. Meanwhile, Transformers: The Last Knight grossed the least out of any installment in the franchise, while Daddy’s Home 2 similarly tanked. Overall, last year Wahlberg had the lowest returns on his movies out of any actor in Hollywood. According to The Independent he made $4.40 for every dollar spent on one of his movies. Meanwhile, Christian Bale, who saw similarly low box office results this year, made $6.70 for every dollar spent. This means that both actors’ money came from advance payments rather than profits from their films.
Wahlberg’s wealth is also the source of controversy in the wake of reports that he was paid $1.5 million to reshoot All the Money in the World after Kevin Spacey was replaced by Christopher Plummer following sexual misconduct charges. Despite Wahlberg’s lucrative paycheck for the second filming, co-star Michelle Williams was paid about $80 per day, a fact that caused Jessica Chastain to tweet that Williams deserved more.
I heard for the reshoot she got $80 a day compared to his MILLIONS. Would anyone like to clarify? I really hope that with everything coming to light, she was paid fairly. She's a brilliant actress and is wonderful in the film. https://t.co/VzGA2ucAjV
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) January 9, 2018
Wahlberg’s net worth is reportedly $225 million. Williams, on the other hand, has a net worth of about $20 million. Williams is the top-billed actress in All the Money in the World and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. Last year, Williams was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Manchester by the Sea.
But Williams is not the only woman who earned much less than Wahlberg. In contrast to Wahlberg’s almost $70 million income, only three actresses made more than $20 million in 2017. This means that Wahlberg earned almost three times as much as the top paid actress, Emma Stone, who spent the year profiting from her Oscar-winning performance in La La Land.
The fact that Wahlberg makes so much more than every actress in Hollywood, including a co-star, is unacceptable. Actresses have spoken up against the gender pay gap before, but more needs to be done to ensure that Williams and others like her are compensated fairly for their work.