Potter star Emma Watson is Hollywood's highest-paid actress

Published on Friday 5 February 2010 20:59

TEENAGE Harry Potter actress Emma Watson has been named Hollywood's highest-paid female star.

The 19-year-old is said to have raked in 20 million last year, more than well-established actresses such as Cameron Diaz – the only other woman in the overall top 20.

The list was compiled by Vanity Fair magazine and saw Watson come 14th overall. As well as starring in the Harry Potter films, Watson, a university student, has fronted adverts for fashion brand Burberry and has designed her own line of clothing.

Watson's Harry Potter co-star, Daniel Radcliffe, was placed sixth on the overall list, with his 2009 earnings put at more than 25m. Another Harry Potter star, Rupert Grint, was 15th on the list.

Transformers film-maker Michael Bay topped the survey, whose income is thought to be more than 78m. Steven Spielberg was in second place, with more than 53m estimated earnings.

James Cameron, whose record-breaking sci-fi blockbuster Avatar is a front-runner in this year's Oscar nominations, was placed fourth.

The magazine said it interviewed people with access to deal terms in compiling its list, including agents, lawyers and studio executives.

Also on the top 20 list were Roland Emmerich, the Independence Day producer, in third place with 45m.

Actor Ben Stiller was in seventh place with 26m, closely followed by Tom Hanks in eighth place with 23m.

JJ Abrams, the American film director behind Mission Impossible III, was in ninth place with 23m.

And the prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer, responsible for Pirates of the Caribbean, Top Gun and Con Air, came in tenth, also with earnings of 23m.