Emma Stone Gives Studios the Most Bang for Their Bucks

According to Forbes magazine, Emma Stone brings movie studios the best return on their investment: for every $1 they paid her for her last three movies, she earned $80.70 for them. So what does this finding mean for women in Hollywood?

Women like Mila Kunis, Jennifer Lawrence, and Natalie Portman dominate the top of the “Best Value” list, mostly because they take supporting roles in male-dominated blockbusters for relatively little upfront pay. Of these four, only Lawrence and Portman have been commanding lead roles in blockbuster and Oscar bait pictures. Actors like The Rock (number 5, for earning $31.30 for every dollar paid) rank lower, because their salaries tend to be inflated above that of actresses.

This makes me wonder where these actresses will fall on future rankings if they were to command salaries and roles that were equal to their male counterparts. Given how high the return is on Stone, Kunis ($68.70), and Lawrence is ($68.60), paying them more might decrease their relative value, but still result in them dominating this list.

So, again Hollywood, stop relegating potential lead movie stars like Stone and Kunis to supporting roles in The Amazing Spider-Man and Ted, and create more starring vehicles for them. There should be a lot more Silver Linings Playbooks and Black Swans to go around.