As the box office figures came in for James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire & Ash, Zoe Saldaña became the highest-grossing actor of all time. Rating actors by this metric (in which the box office figures of every movie they’ve been in are essentially tallied up) is relatively new.
In 1915, the Quigley Publishing Company began printing a year-end poll that ranked the movie stars of the day by bankability (aka popularity). The box office figures were not directly mentioned, though. Nowadays, as stars increasingly take a backseat to IP, the cold, hard figures perhaps make more sense.
Regardless, Saldaña (a recent Oscar winner, lest we forget) is more than worthy of the top spot, having not only played Gamora (a central character in five MCU movies) but also Neitiri, the beating heart of Cameron’s Avatar franchise. How long she’ll stay there is another question: all ten of the actors on this list are still very much alive and kicking, and given the current slate of upcoming movies, there’s every chance we’ll see plenty of movement on this list in the next few years.
Read on to discover more about the current top ten and use the guide below to find a selection of their best work on services like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.
10. Dwayne Johnson ($11.47 billion USD)
Despite being an A-lister for longer than most of the actors on this list, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson only just makes the cut. However, given that the former WWE has yet to appear in a single MCU movie, that achievement is not to be sniffed at.
Indeed, aside from the disappointment of Black Adam and a few spins in the Fast and the Furious franchise, Johnson has mostly done his own thing since making the jump into Hollywood in The Mummy Returns in 2001. He’s probably best known for action movies like San Andreas and Skyscraper and family fare, like Jumanji, and for loaning his voice to animated hits like Moana and Zootopia 2.
9. Chris Evans ($11.49 billion USD)
With Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner tied up in copyright issues—which continue to stop the big green rage monster from appearing in his own movies—there was only ever going to be four of the key Avengers on this list. The lowest ranked of them is Chris Evans, whose seven non-cameo appearances as Captain America basically take up the majority of his box office figures.
Outside of those, Evans’ numbers are bulked up thanks to a couple of appearances as the Human Torch as well as a few non-superhero movies—like Knives Out and Lightyear—that managed to rake it in at the box office.
8. Vin Diesel ($12.04 billion USD)
If this list is anything to go by, anyone looking to break the top eight in future generations will need to have a recurring role in at least two gigantic franchises. Vin Diesel certainly fits that bill: the actor is best known for playing Don Toretto in eight (and counting) Fast and the Furious films—the best of which is still the Rio-based heist flick, Fast Five. and for providing the voice of Groot, the sylvan member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, over six films in the MCU.
Diesel also made considerable numbers with his two XXXs, his three Riddicks, and his one Saving Private Ryan.
7. Chris Hemsworth ($12.19 billion USD)
Despite having a varied career as an action star, Chris Hemsworth made his name playing Thor, the god of thunder, over eight non-cameo appearances in the MCU, including a record four standalone movies—and if all goes to plan, a fifth (tantalisingly called Thor: Valhalla) could be with us in the not-so-distant future.
Outside of the comic book world, the hunky actor has appeared in a variety of other high-earning franchises—including as Kirk’s dad in the first Star Trek, as Optimus Prime in Transformers One, and as Dementus in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
6. Tom Cruise ($12.67 billion USD)
At time of writing, Tom Cruise is the only star on the highest grossing actors list who has yet to appear in a Marvel or DC movie. Cruise’s highest earners have, of course, been his eight starring appearances as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise and his duo of Top Gun movies—two 30+ year series in which he was the indisputable star.
Cruise is also notable on this list for having made some serious numbers in the pre-Marvel days, when non-IP movies and dramas could still earn top dollar at the box office—Rain Man, Cocktail and Jerry Maguire, for example, took in a combined $1.2 billion.
5. Chris Pratt ($14.13 billion USD)
Unfortunately for Cruise, it’ll take something special for him to make the jump into the top five. At the time of writing, Chris Pratt sits $1.5 billion ahead of the ageless wonder thanks largely to his trilogy of Jurassic World movies and his six appearances as Star-Lord in the MCU.
Unlike Cruise, however, and despite some early promise in movies like Moneyball, Pratt has yet to find a huge amount of success elsewhere; his recent attempts to diversify with movies like Passengers and The Electric State failed to connect with critics or audiences. Not to worry, with a voice role in the imminent Super Mario Galaxy, Pratt has every chance of climbing a few more places on this list in the not-so-distant future.
4. Robert Downey Jr. ($14.31 billion USD)
Having played a huge role in helping to reinvent the superhero genre, it’s no surprise that Robert Downey Jr. is currently ranked fourth on this list—and might even rise to the top by the end of 2026, all going to plan.
The actor has appeared in nine of the biggest MCU movies in his role as Tony Stark, and his upcoming portrayal of Dr Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled for release at the end of the year, is set to make it a perfect ten. RDJ can also thank his Sherlock Holmes movies for adding another billion to his tally. If I had to guess, I imagine he’s most proud of the similar amount that was added for his Oscar-winning turn in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, from 2023.
3. Samuel L. Jackson ($14.61 billion USD)
In third place is Samuel L. Jackson, an actor who has appeared in more MCU movies than anyone, albeit without ever having his own standalone feature—the closest being arguable the first Avengers movie or his de-aged appearance in 2019’s Captain Marvel.
Outside of those many turns as Nick Fury, however, the hard-working actor has more than 200 credits to his name. Among the highest earning were his appearances in Jurassic Park (which was briefly the most successful movie of all time), the Star Wars prequel trilogy (where he played Mace Windu), and, as Frozone, The Incredibles and Incredibles 2.
2. Scarlett Johansson ($15.4 billion USD)
Before Saldaña took her spot last week, Scarlett Johansson briefly held the crown as the highest-grossing actor of all time, nudging into the lead after the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth last year.
Similar to many other actors on this list, Johansson’s numbers are tied to her eight appearances as Natasha Romanov/Black Widow in the MCU, but as her lofty position here proves, the actor has plenty of other hits to her name—including voice roles in movies like The Jungle Book and Sing and various hit sci-fi projects, like Ghost in the Shell and Lucy.
1. Zoe Saldaña ($15.47 billion USD)
As the only actor to appear regularly in both the MCU and James Cameron’s Avatar franchise, it’s almost surprising that Zoe Saldaña has never topped this list before—and if Cameron’s plans for two more Avatar movies are realised, she might one day hold this spot by an insurmountable margin.
Outside of all that, Saldaña has also found the time to appear in two Pirates of the Caribbean instalments and three of the latest Star Trek movies, and, as of last March, she’s now an Oscar winner—Alexander might have wept; Saldaña just keeps on truckin’.
