10 of Hollywood's Highest Paid Actresses 2011

According to Forbes.com, "Hollywood is still a boy’s town where the men earn a lot more than the women. But don’t cry for the top female stars: The 10 highest-paid actresses in Tinseltown earned a total $218 million between May 2010 and May 2011, by our estimation."

Jolie has made a name for herself as an actress who can easily handle action, drama and even directing. She wrote and directed the upcoming film In the Land of Blood and Honey, a romance set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War. That film follows up her two big-budget 2010 action movies, Salt and The Tourist. The latter, which co-starred Johnny Depp, initially looked like it was going to be a flop after a paltry opening weekend box-office haul of $16 million. But thanks mostly to the overseas market, the film went on to earn $280 million, cementing Jolie’s appeal abroad...

Here's the Complete list of Top 10 of Hollywood's Highest Paid Actresses 2011.

1 - Angelina Jolie, $30 million

Jolie is the only woman making bank for playing action heroes these days. Salt, which was originally written for Tom Cruise, brought in $300 million on a budget of $110 million. Her other movie from 2010, The Tourist, earned 75% of its $280 million box office overseas.

2 - Sarah Jessica Parker, $30 million

Parker hasn't strayed far from her association with fashion-lover Carrie Bradshaw from the hit TV show Sex and the City. In 2010 she starred in the second Sex movie, which earned $290 million. She's designing clothes with Halston and she has a line of best-selling fragrances, including NYC, which brought in $18 million in 2010.

3 - Jennifer Aniston, $28 million

While the tabloids fret about Aniston's love life, the actress is slowly proving herself to be one of Hollywood's surest things on the business side. Her 2010 movie The Bounty Hunter opened weak and was immediately written off by the pundits. But the film kept attracting audiences, eventually earning $136 million on an estimated budget of $40 million. She later helped Adam Sandler's Just Go With It earn a healthy $212 million.

4 - Reese Witherspoon, $28 million

Her marriage to agent Jim Toth kept her in the public eye this year but the actress' latest romantic comedy, How Do You Know, was a colossal flop, earning only $47 million on an estimated budget of $120 million. Don't expect it to dent Witherspoon's career. She is still the go-to actress for movies like her upcoming This Means War, about a love triangle involving two CIA agents.

5 - Julia Roberts, $20 million

Roberts' career has slowed considerably since her Notting Hill days but she's still a box office draw. Eat Pray Love earned an impressive $205 million. Roberts also earns from her work as one of the faces of Lancome. She's attached to play the Evil Queen in one of two Snow White projects currently in development.

6 - Kristen Stewart, $20 million

Stewart's non-Twilight career hasn't been as successful as her co-star Robert Pattinson's so far. Her 2010 film The Runaways grossed only $4.6 million at the global box office. But the two-part Breaking Dawn should bring her enough money to play around with different roles while looking for her next big hit. Stewart is attached to one of two Snow White projects currently in development.

7 - Katherine Heigl, $19 million

One of the few women who can still command $12 million per picture, Heigl is the new queen of romantic comedies. She risks having that crown taken away from her though due to a couple of recent duds including Killers, which earned only $100 million, and Life as We Know It, which performed slightly better, bringing in $106 million on an estimated budget of $40 million.

8 - Cameron Diaz, $18 million

Seventeen years after she debuted opposite Jim Carrey in The Mask, Diaz is still one of the most popular actresses in movies. She starred opposite Tom Cruise in last year's Knight & Day. The film didn't perform as well as many would have liked but it still brought in a solid $260 million thanks to brisk overseas ticket sales. Her relationship with baseball star Alex Rodriguez helps keeps the busy actress in the news.

9 - Sandra Bullock, $15 million

The actress hasn't had a movie out in the last 12 months. After a year of triumph (winning an Oscar) and heartbreak (a painfully public divorce) Bullock is getting back to work with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Based on the Jonathan Safran Foer novel about New York after 9/11, the film costars Tom Hanks.

10 - Meryl Streep, $10 million

Streep had a huge year in 2009 with Julie & Julia and It's Complicated but the award-winning actress has been quiet since then. She'll return later this year as Margaret Thatcher in the biopic The Iron Lady directed by her Mamma Mia helmer Phyllida Law.

For more info about the top 10 of Hollywood's Highest Paid Actresses 2011, please visit Forbes.com. Thank you.

• Reference/Source: Forbes.com [July 5, 2011]