Forbes is money focused. The publication makes it a business of being in everyone else’s business. This is especially true of those individuals the public loves to idolize: celebrities.
Who are the highest paid TV actresses of 2014? If you were to guess, it might be easier than you think. Let’s considering someone in the news as of late for a monster contract: Kaley Cuoco. She’s definitely on the list, and she’ll definitely score the number one slot for 2015, after booking the enormous payday for Big Bang Theory, but she doesn’t top out 2014.
How about Courteney Cox? She was one at the top of the list with her fellow Friends co-stars. Yes, she’s still on the list in 2014–an impressive feat–but she comes in at number six. (We can’t forget that she is still scoring seven figures a year from Friends residuals. )
Julianna Margulies is still in the mix after all these years, and she’ll probably command a bit of a bonus or pay raise after bringing home another Emmy for The Good Wife. Margulies also enjoys some stellar producer pay from the series, and a great gig with L’Oreal. She locked in at number four on the 2014 list.
Claire Danes, Lena Dunham, Zooey Deschanel, Kerry Washington… these ladies are on the list, as well as comedians Amy Poehler and Mindy Kaling, but they’re not rubbing shoulders with number one. How I Met Your Mother alumni, Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan are hand-holders on the list at numbers four and five. And of course, Ellen Pompeo has scored some serious fiscal love from Grey’s Anatomy.
The closest to the top spot without actually earning it? Law & Order has to be in the mix somewhere, doesn’t it? Sure enough, Mariska Hargitay is hovering at number two, scoring an impressive $450,000 per episode, as well as residuals from the show’s run in syndication.
On top of the mountain? You guessed it: The incomparable Sofia Vergara. It’s not her role on Modern Family that pays the highest, but it certainly has thrust her to the forefront of women in entertainment.
Check out the full list, in order, here: Forbes’ Highest Paid TV Actresses of 2014