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The Most Overpaid Actor in Hollywood is ...


Can the Answer Be All of Them? / Dustin Rowles

Trade News | November 19, 2009 | Comments (30)


Forbes magazine, which fancies itself as one of those highfalutin business periodicals, lowered itself into the Hollywood muck this week (hit whoring) and ran a piece on the most overpaid actors in Hollywood, using a very sophisticated algorithm that involved a lot of spit, a little friction, and a scab or two.

What they surmised after tossing aside that fancy-ass algorithm and using their goddamn common sense, however, was that Will Ferrell is Hollywood’s most overpaid actor.

No shit.

Apparently, over the last five years, which have included box-office bombs like Land of the Lost, his employers have earned just $3.29 for every dollar he was paid. Sort of surprising, however, is the number two actor on the list: Ewan McGregor, who honestly can’t open a movie to save his goddamn life — his movies earned $3.75 for every dollar he was paid. I, personally, applaud McGregor for being paid so much for making the movies he wants to make, rather than Semi-Pro. Billy Bob Thornton was third on the list, and deservedly so. He’s a giant uncovered testicle. The top ten also included Drew Barrymore, Sam Jackson, Ice Cube, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jim Carrey — I’m only surprised about DiCaprio, since he hasn’t really had a bomb — save for Body of Lies — over the last five years.

On the flip side, horsecockswallower Shia LaBeouf (Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — was at the top of Forbes list of Best Actors for the Buck, but then again, LaBeouf is paid in doubloons and lollipops, so that’s not too huge a surprise. Also among the “best bangs for their buck” was Robert Downey, Jr. (Challah!), Christian Bale, and motherfucking Dennis Quaid, who has somehow entered into the older guy with gravitas role.


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Comments

I've always adored Dennis Quaid, until I saw him the GI Joe.

My heart died that day.

Posted by: Skewicide Blonde at November 19, 2009 11:05 AM

Ewan McGregor is worth every fucking dollar he gets, because no matter how shitty a movie is, he's always good. Studios need to let him onto better projects (plus, I can only think of one movie that would have amounted to that number, and that's Angels and Demons. What else has he made where he got paid well and it bombed? He hasn't been in many big projects since Star Wars).

/rant

Posted by: Christian H. at November 19, 2009 11:18 AM

LaBeouf is Paid in Doubloons will be the name of my experimental, progressive rock group. We're kind of like Emmerson, Lake & Palmer date rapes Doobie Brothers behind a School for the Blind and Visually Impaired while Mott The Hoople fingerbangs a reanimated Wendy O. Williaims in a gin-soaked Plasmatics shirt. It's pretty thought-provoking stuff. We're opening for Stryper at the 2010 Polk County Fair & Livestock Auction. Contact me for tickets.

We're gonna blow your mind...


Posted by: Skitz at November 19, 2009 11:19 AM

"Bang for your buck" is begging for a joke.

RDJ is the best bang for your mom's buck?

I'm struggling with this one. Not my best work.

Posted by: caroline at November 19, 2009 11:24 AM

I'm home sick today and so there's nobody here to stop me from downloading and watching G.I. Joe. Somebody please. HELP.

Posted by: popejenn at November 19, 2009 11:25 AM

Eh, I say if someone gets a chance to rake in major bucks from a studio, go for it and feel no shame. With the copious amounts of steaming shit they greenlight, they clearly have money to waste.

If someone offered me $20 million to act like an idiot (like Ferrell), I'd take it so goddam fast I'd make time move backwards.

The only actor whose paycheck I resent at all is Jim Carrey, because he keeps helping to rape my childhood. If he ever does a live-action version of "Winnie the Pooh," with him as Tigger, I will hunt him down and make him hurt. Bad.

Posted by: Slash at November 19, 2009 11:27 AM

I'd give RDJ a buck for a bang.

Posted by: figgy at November 19, 2009 11:29 AM

Slash, why would you say that? It seems like such a real possibility now.

Posted by: becks at November 19, 2009 11:32 AM

figgy FTW

Posted by: , (just , cause I'm tired of typing that other shit) at November 19, 2009 11:33 AM

These lists are wrong. Dennis Quaid for instance belongs on the most overpaid list, his latst movies have all been giant flops, making less than 1/8th of what they cost. The only one who made a decent bucm at the BO, GI Joe, does not count, cuz nobody saw that movie because of him.

Posted by: Serious at November 19, 2009 11:34 AM

If they make a live action Winnie the Pooh they should cast Christina Hendricks as Tigger. They'd make their money back on that one.

Posted by: becks at November 19, 2009 11:38 AM

Jim Carrey's career has been like the staggering drunk who has two sublime moments of clarity: 1998's Truman Show and 2004's Eternal Sunshine. Alas, once he stepped into Lemony Snicket's shoes, he fell right on his ass again. I Love You Phillip Morris could be one last gasp at respectability.

Posted by: gunnertec at November 19, 2009 11:41 AM

*bows*

Posted by: figgy at November 19, 2009 11:42 AM

RE becks
"Slash, why would you say that? It seems like such a real possibility now."

It could happen. Disney owns the copyright.


Posted by: Slash at November 19, 2009 11:50 AM

"Ewan McGregor is worth every fucking dollar he gets, because no matter how shitty a movie is, he's always good."

--BUT WHAT ABOUT THE YOUNGLINGS! I like McGregor too, but he didn't bring anything to the prequels. He's that rare kind of actor who doesn't translate well to big budget, wham-bam Michael Bay doomsplosion movies. He's the across-the-pond Ethan Hawke.

Although I'll say one thing, if he's pretty enough for Louis CK, he's enough for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u2ZsoYWwJA
(Couldn't find the right clip so I just grabbed a long one for those at work)

Most overpaid actor? How's aboot John "I stopped trying after Pulp Fiction/Face-Off" Travolta. His IMDB reads like a list of all the movies on TNT Sundays with a football double-header running at the same time.

Posted by: D-Day at November 19, 2009 12:00 PM

“best bangs for their buck” was Robert Downey, Jr. (Challah!), Christian Bale

So what's the hourly bang rate for these guys? Any discounts for a package deal?

Heh. Package.

Posted by: stardust at November 19, 2009 12:01 PM


If they make a live action Winnie the Pooh they should cast Christina Hendricks as Tigger. They'd make their money back on that one.

Posted by: becks at November 19, 2009 11:38 AM

Ladies and gentlemen, the solution to world peace. Short, simple, to the point.

Posted by: Lubeg at November 19, 2009 12:04 PM

From now on, I'm going to work the phrase "horsecockswallower" at least once a day into a conversation.

Posted by: George at November 19, 2009 12:11 PM

Be careful around Wendy O. Williams, skitz. She sued a friend of mine for libel 20 years ago -- she came to Athens GA for a concert, and the reviewer in our weekly arts rag described the show and its (imaginary) aftermath, wherein said reviewer sexually debased W.O.W. in various ways. Really it was no worse that what can be read here, but at the time it was pretty strong stuff I suppose.

She eventually dropped it because she was advised the piece had enough of a satirical wink. But a word to the wise -- rip off that electrical tape and you'll discover not only nipples, but also rampant litigiousness!

Posted by: sansho1 at November 19, 2009 1:15 PM

"The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things..."

Posted by: lizzieborden at November 19, 2009 1:17 PM

If they make a live action Winnie the Pooh they should cast Christina Hendricks as Tigger. They'd make their money back on that one.

And Elizabeth Moss as Eyeore because she's ugly and sad...

Posted by: BananaPanda at November 19, 2009 1:45 PM

horsecockswallower Shia LaBeouf

I thought I heard that he preferred receiving equine penis in his ass?

Posted by: Drake at November 19, 2009 1:52 PM

Eeyore wasn't ugly.

Posted by: becks at November 19, 2009 2:20 PM

Christina Hendricks: bouncy, trouncy, pouncy, flouncy -- fun fun fun fun fun!

Posted by: Three-nineteen at November 19, 2009 2:47 PM

I am confused as to how Leonardo DiCaprio made this list as he hasn't released any movies in 2009 that I know of. Am I wrong, cause that would certainly explain how he made the list.

Posted by: Morgan LaFai at November 19, 2009 7:20 PM

Re: Wendy O: she died a few years back, suicide.

Posted by: Dude Manbro at November 19, 2009 7:28 PM

Did they only include the last 5 years? Because I'm pretty sure those Star Wars flicks earned a couple of bucks for Ewan's employers.

Posted by: Reina at November 19, 2009 9:22 PM

I may be wrong, but I think they average out the last few (3? Maybe 4?) movies. So it only takes one big bomb (Land of the Lost) to propel someone to the top of the list, or one enormous success (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) to reach the top of the opposite list.

Still, interesting results.

Posted by: Daniel Hall at November 19, 2009 9:35 PM

If you praise McGregor for getting the bucks for making the movies he wants to make, that is damning. The guy makes some of the crappiest films out there (Angels & Demons, Amelia, The Island, Miss Potter just to name a few). There is absolutely nothing challenging in any of the roles he chose. He's doing it for the cash, pure and simple. Forbes's got him dead to right.

Posted by: Dagger at November 21, 2009 2:58 PM

C'mon, gunnertec, no Cable Guy in that tiny list of good Jim Carrey movies?

Posted by: Brenton at November 23, 2009 5:50 PM





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