Robin Williams was combining box-office dominance with rare versatility, bouncing between family hits and adult dramas. That range came with serious money, including reported paydays of around $15 million for films like Hook and Mrs. Doubtfire. With hit after hit and studios willing to pay top dollar for his name alone, Williams remained one of the decade’s most consistently high-paid stars. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Whoopi Goldberg balanced box-office hits with real awards clout, following her Oscar win for Ghost with crowd-pleasers like Sister Act. That momentum led to a massive payday on Sister Act 2, where she reportedly earned between $7 and $12 million, briefly making her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. Strong ticket sales backed up the investment and cemented Goldberg as one of the decade’s most financially powerful stars. | © New Line Cinema
Even compared to adult stars of the era, Macaulay Culkin was pulling in shocking money, especially considering he was still a kid. After earning $100,000 for Home Alone, his salary exploded to $1 million for My Girl, then jumped to $4.5 million for Home Alone 2 and $8 million each for Richie Rich and Getting Even With Dad. Those numbers made Culkin one of the highest-paid actors of the early ’90s, and easily the richest child star Hollywood had ever seen at the time. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Jodie Foster entered the ’90s as both a critical force and a serious box-office draw. Midway through the decade, her paychecks climbed steadily, ranging from $5 million for Maverick to a reported $15 million for Anna and the King by the decade’s end. That combination of prestige roles and blockbuster salaries made Foster one of the quiet heavy earners of the era, proving you didn’t need flashy franchises to command top-tier money. | © Orion Pictures
Meg Ryan was everywhere, turning romantic dramas and rom-coms into guaranteed hits after When Harry Met Sally made her a household name. By mid-decade, she was earning serious money, pulling in $5 million for I.Q. and then $10.5 million for You’ve Got Mail, a year that reportedly netted her nearly $19 million total. Those numbers put Ryan firmly among Hollywood’s highest-paid stars of the era. | © Columbia Pictures
By the late ’90s, Julia Roberts was the biggest female star in Hollywood, riding hit after hit from Pretty Woman to My Best Friend’s Wedding. In 1999, she made history by signing a deal for Erin Brockovich that paid her $20 million, becoming the first woman ever to hit a number long reserved for male superstars. That moment rewrote the rules of who could command top-tier money in Hollywood. | © Sony Pictures Releasing
Al Pacino had shifted from pure prestige to prestige with serious paychecks attached. He reportedly earned around $10 million for Scent of a Woman in 1992, then pushed into the $11–15 million range for major studio films like Heat later in the decade. By the time Any Given Sunday arrived in 1999 with a rumored $20 million payday, Pacino had firmly joined the era’s highest-paid elite without sacrificing his reputation as a serious actor. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Sylvester Stallone was still cashing in on the action-star dominance he’d built in the previous decade. He reportedly earned around $15 million for films like Cliffhanger and Demolition Man, with his salary climbing to roughly $20 million for Judge Dredd in 1995. Those consistent blockbuster fees kept Stallone firmly in the highest-paid bracket, even as Hollywood’s tastes began to shift away from pure muscle-bound spectacle. | © United Artists
Eddie Murphy was one of Hollywood’s safest bets, turning nearly everything he touched into a hit. That dominance translated into massive paydays, including around $15 million for Beverly Hills Cop III and a reported $20 million for The Nutty Professor in 1996. Those numbers kept Murphy at the very top of the industry’s pay scale throughout the decade, making him one of the most reliably high-paid stars of the era. | © Walt Disney Pictures
In the ’90s, Jim Carrey broke the pay scale. He made history by earning $20 million for The Cable Guy, a deal that famously included a slice of the gross and reset what studios were willing to pay leading men. Stack that against a run of massive hits like Ace Ventura, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, and later prestige turns in The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, and it’s clear why Carrey sat at the very top of the ’90s paycheck hierarchy. | © New Line Cinema
After being told early on that stardom wasn’t in the cards, Harrison Ford flipped the script and became one of Hollywood’s most reliable box-office draws. By the 1990s, his paychecks surged into the $10–12 million range, eventually hitting $20 million for films like Air Force One and The Devil’s Own. That steady climb turned Ford into one of the decade’s highest-paid actors. | © 20th Century Studios
By the ’90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was operating on an entirely different pay scale, bouncing between action hits and comedies while pulling in $20–30 million per movie at his peak. The decade kicked off with $11 million for Total Recall, jumped to $12 million for Terminator 2 and kept climbing through films like True Lies and Batman & Robin, which paid him $25 million alone. By the end of the era, Schwarzenegger had earned hundreds of millions from film salaries, proving that his larger-than-life screen presence came with an equally massive paycheck. | © 20th Century Studios
Tom Cruise was already commanding eye-watering paychecks in the early ’90s, jumping from $9 million for Days of Thunder to $15 million on Interview with the Vampire. The real money move came in 1996, when he leveraged his dual role as star and producer on Mission: Impossible and reportedly walked away with around $70 million off the film’s massive box office. Add Jerry Maguire to that same year, and it’s easy to see why Cruise earned a reputation as Hollywood’s ultimate back-end dealmaker, and why his ’90s run cemented him as one of the era’s highest-paid stars. | © Paramount Pictures
Mel Gibson was cashing in big on both action hits and smart deal-making. He reportedly earned around $20 million for Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998, placing him firmly among the decade’s top-paid stars. The real windfall came from Braveheart, where a lower upfront salary paired with back-end points ultimately netted him an estimated $40–50 million, proving Gibson knew how to play the long game when it came to money. | © Touchstone Pictures
Everyone loves Tom Hanks, and in the ’90s, that goodwill translated into serious money. In 1998 alone, he pulled in $20 million for You’ve Got Mail and an eye-popping $40 million for Saving Private Ryan, locking in his status as one of Hollywood’s most profitable stars. The real flex came earlier with Forrest Gump, when he swapped his upfront fee for backend points and walked away with roughly $70 million in a single year, still one of the biggest acting paydays ever. | © Paramount Pictures
The 1990s were about blockbuster paychecks. As studios chased guaranteed hits, a small group of stars turned box-office power into eye-watering salaries. Some relied on franchises, others on smart deals, but all of them redefined what Hollywood paid its biggest names.
