This Woman Quietly Surpassed Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., and Chris Evans to Become the World's Highest-Grossing Actor
If you think of the world’s highest-grossing actor, you may imagine someone like Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, or even Samuel L. Jackson—all of whom are known for being a part of record-breaking films and film franchises like The Avengers, Top Gun, and Mission Impossible—but the actual highest-grossing star, though closely related to these names, might surprise you.
The Black Widow actress just pushed all the way to the top of the list with the release of Jurassic World Rebirth, after years of giving tough yet silent competition to other names in this prestigious list.
As of now, the actor’s total worldwide gross is at $14.94 billion and inching closer to the $15 billion mark. Scarlett’s fellow Avengers stars aren’t far off either.
Samuel L. Jackson sits at #2 with $14.82 billion, and Robert Downey Jr. is at 3 with $14.34 billion. Positions 4 and 5 are dominated by fellow Marvel stars Zoe Saldaña with $14.25 billion and Chris Pratt with $14.13 billion, while the legendary Tom Cruise chimes in at $13.37 with just 29 movies. Captain America star Chris Evans secures the 7th spot, with $12.09 billion, and Chris Hemsworth comes in at 9 with $12.08 billion.
Fun fact? 9 out of 10 of the highest-grossing actors are from the world of Marvel, with the exception of Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise’s most notorious work remains the Mission Impossible franchise to date, but his highest-grossing film is Top Gun: Maverick, which made $1.49 billion.
The highest-grossing film for 8 out of the list’s 9 Marvel stars is the second highest-grossing film in the world, Avengers: Endgame.
Yup, Zoe Saldaña is the odd one out, since her highest-grossing film remains Avatar, which is the highest-grossing film of all time. She’s also a part of the third highest grossing film, Avatar: The Way of the Water, making her resume quite the impressive one.
Scarlett Johansson’s Filmography May Not Be Memorable, But It Surely Is RemarkableWhile it’s true that Scarlett Johansson may not have had many blockbuster solos or roles compared to other names on the list, she still has one of the most impressive and critically acclaimed filmographies in Hollywood, thanks to which she’s managed to become #1.
Johansson made her film debut at the young age of 10, starring in the 1994 comedy film North. Her first lead role was in Manny & Lo, for which she received praise from critics and was even nominated for a Best Lead Female award.
Throughout her later career, the actress has been a part of many iconic and critically acclaimed films, including the likes of Lost in Translation, The Prestige, Her, Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit, Lucy, Sing, and The Jungle Book.
Of course, her biggest break came when she grabbed the opportunity to replace Emily Blunt in her MCU debut in Iron Man 2 and starred in The Avengers just 2 years later.
For both of these films, Johansson underwent rigorous training and showed nothing but strict discipline and dedication to the role. For Iron Man 2, she undertook strength as well as stunt training. She even learned Russian from a teacher over the phone, just to deliver an authentic performance for The Avengers, in which she had to speak Russian dialogue.
The way that things are going, it seems like Scarlett Johansson might retain this throne, at least until the newest chapter of The Avengers, Avengers: Doomsday, heads to theaters next year, which stars Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth.
Given the success of Avengers films, this might push Robert Downey Jr. to the number 1 position.