Nicole Kidman needs cheering up. Her old husband has staged the creepiest wedding in history, her new husband is in rehab for drinking way too much and people won't stop openly wondering if she's got a baby in her belly.
So let's cheer Nicole Kidman up. Nicole Kidman, you may have worse taste in men than Nicole Brown Simpson and not have made a genuinely decent film for five years, but at least you're filthy stinking rich. Nicole Kidman has been named by the Hollywood Reporter as the highest-paid actress in all of Hollywood, for her ability to take home up to $17 million for each film she stars in. And good for Nicole Kidman; not only is she one of our finest actresses but all this money means that she won't be need to make any more Chanel adverts that make us want to claw our eyes out every time we see them.
Despite advances in gender equality over the last few decades, there's still a wide gulf between what male and female entertainers earn. Look at Madonna – on her last controversy-filled tour she earnt $193 million, only to have that figure blown out of the water a couple of weeks later by a bunch of stumbling pensioners with holes in their heads.
And it's the same in movies, too. A few months after it's rumoured that Brad Pitt will make Mission: Impossible IV and get paid $40 million for it, Nicole Kidman is being lauded as the highest-paid actress in Hollywood by The Hollywood Reporter for commanding a comparatively meagre $17 million per film. Not that $17 million per movie is to be sniffed at, though – not only will the money go a long way to buying that baby-raising Fijian island that Nicole Kidman keeps carping on about, but it'll help keep it stocked up with plenty of cowboy booze for her rehab-friendly husband.
We didn't need telling that Nicole Kidman was loaded – not everyone can rent every helicopter in Australia – but being named as the highest-paid actress in Hollywood might prove to be something of a poisoned chalice for Nicole Kidman. Look at Julia Roberts; she was the highest-paid actress of 2005 and now she's nowhere to be seen. Not that making decent movies has anything to do with the make-up of this list, though, as you're about to see. Here's the list of the Hollywood Reporter's highest-paid actresses in Hollywood…
1 – Nicole Kidman: $17 million. Rubbish 2006 movies – Fur: An Imaginary Portrait Of Diane Arbus
2 – Reese Witherspoon: $15 million. 2006 movies so far – None
3 – Renee Zellweger: $15 million. 2006 movies so far – None
4 – Drew Barrymore: $15 million. 2006 movies so far – None
5 – Cameron Diaz: $15 million. Rubbish 2006 movies – The Holiday
6 – Halle Berry: $14 million. Rubbish 2006 movies – X-Men: The Last Stand
7 – Charlize Theron: $10 million. 2006 movies so far – None
8 – Angelina Jolie: $10 million. 2006 movies so far – None. Countries that she's annoyed by going there and acting like she owns them – India and Namibia
9 – Kirsten Dunst: $8 million – $10 million. Rubbish 2006 movies – Marie Antoinette
10 – Jennifer Aniston: $8 million. Rubbish 2006 movies – The Break-Up
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