Who are the highest-grossing actresses in movie history? From Zoe Saldaña’s work across Avatar and the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Scarlett Johansson’s record-breaking run as Black Widow, some of Hollywood’s biggest female stars have appeared in films that collectively generated billions of dollars worldwide.
But the actress with the biggest box-office career isn’t necessarily the highest-paid actress, the actress with the most leading roles, or the woman whose single movie made the most money.
This ranking looks at cumulative worldwide box-office gross generated by films featuring each actress, using available industry data. The figures are not adjusted for inflation, and franchise films and ensemble blockbusters can have a major effect on an actress’s total.
Top 20 Highest-Grossing Actresses
| Rank | Actress | Worldwide Box Office |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoe Saldaña | $15.47 billion+ |
| 2 | Scarlett Johansson | $15.40 billion+ |
| 3 | Emma Watson | $9.24 billion+ |
| 4 | Karen Gillan | $8.52 billion+ |
| 5 | Elizabeth Olsen | $8.42 billion+ |
| 6 | Letitia Wright | $7.56 billion+ |
| 7 | Danai Gurira | $7.03 billion+ |
| 8 | Pom Klementieff | $6.56 billion+ |
| 9 | Gwyneth Paltrow | $6.17 billion+ |
| 10 | Jennifer Lawrence | $6.08 billion+ |
| 11 | Cameron Diaz | $5.83 billion+ |
| 12 | Natalie Portman | $5.58 billion+ |
| 13 | Brie Larson | $5.50 billion+ |
| 14 | Julia Roberts | $5.44 billion+ |
| 15 | Sandra Bullock | $5.40 billion+ |
| 16 | Michelle Rodriguez | $4.95 billion+ |
| 17 | Daisy Ridley | $4.85 billion+ |
| 18 | Lupita Nyong’o | $4.50 billion+ |
| 19 | Evangeline Lilly | $4.40 billion+ |
| 20 | Meryl Streep | $4.39 billion+ |
The underlying published ranking places Johansson at $14.57 billion and Saldaña at $14.30 billion in its earlier snapshot, while later 2026 data put Saldaña at about $15.47 billion and Johansson at $15.40 billion. The difference comes from subsequent releases and updates to the underlying box-office data.
1. Zoe Saldaña
Image Credit goes to Orginal Creator
Her filmography includes Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and the rebooted Star Trek films.
Her position is particularly remarkable because she has been a major performer in several separate billion-dollar franchises rather than relying on one successful series.
Guinness World Records recorded Saldaña at $15,615,919,486 from 18 films in leading roles as of January 26, 2026. Her Avatar films alone accounted for more than $6.6 billion at that point.
Best-known roles: Neytiri, Gamora, Nyota Uhura
Biggest box-office contributor: Avatar
2. Scarlett Johansson
Image Credit goes to Orginal Creator
Scarlett Johansson spent much of 2025 at the top of the career box-office rankings before Zoe Saldaña moved ahead following the success of Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Johansson’s biggest contribution comes from her long-running role as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her Marvel appearances include Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Her highest-grossing film is Avengers: Endgame, which earned almost $2.8 billion worldwide according to current Box Office Mojo figures.
She also expanded her box-office record with Jurassic World Rebirth in 2025.
The Numbers-based ranking puts her career total at roughly $15.4 billion.
Best-known roles: Black Widow, Lucy, Charlotte
Biggest film: Avengers: Endgame
3. Emma Watson
Image Credit goes to Orginal Creator
Emma Watson’s place near the top of this list comes from one defining franchise: Harry Potter.
Watson appeared as Hermione Granger throughout the eight-film series, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
The final Harry Potter movie became her highest-grossing individual film, earning more than $1.3 billion worldwide.
Her career total is listed at approximately $9.24 billion, despite having a considerably smaller filmography than many actresses below her. That makes her average box-office performance particularly notable.
Her later appearance as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast added another major global hit to her filmography.
Best-known role: Hermione Granger
Biggest film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
4. Karen Gillan
Image Credit goes to Orginal Creator
She plays Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing alongside many of the actors who dominate worldwide box-office rankings.
Her filmography also includes the Jumanji franchise, giving her another set of internationally successful blockbusters.
The published ranking places Gillan at approximately $8.52 billion in cumulative worldwide gross.
Best-known role: Nebula
Major franchises: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jumanji
5. Elizabeth Olsen
Elizabeth Olsen’s position is closely tied to one of Marvel’s most successful periods.
She plays Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, appearing in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Her cumulative box-office total is estimated at more than $8.42 billion in the published ranking.
Avengers: Endgame alone generated nearly $2.8 billion worldwide, while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also crossed the $900 million mark globally.
Best-known role: Wanda Maximoff
Biggest film: Avengers: Endgame
6. Letitia Wright
Letitia Wright reached this list remarkably quickly compared with actresses who have decades-long careers.
Her breakthrough as Shuri in Black Panther placed her inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and she subsequently appeared in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The published ranking gives Wright a cumulative worldwide total of approximately $7.56 billion.
Her numbers demonstrate how dramatically a performer’s career total can change after joining a major cinematic universe.
Best-known role: Shuri
Major franchise: Marvel Cinematic Universe
7. Danai Gurira
Danai Gurira is another actress whose box-office career has been strongly influenced by Marvel.
She plays Okoye in the Black Panther films and also appears in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Her cumulative worldwide total is estimated at roughly $7.03 billion.
Before her major film success, Gurira was already widely known for her work as Michonne in The Walking Dead. Her transition into major theatrical franchises dramatically expanded her box-office footprint.
8. Pom Klementieff
Pom Klementieff has built an impressive box-office record through a combination of Marvel and action franchises.
She plays Mantis in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and appears in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. She also joined the Mission: Impossible franchise as Paris.
Her cumulative total is estimated at approximately $6.56 billion.
Her ranking is a good example of how supporting and ensemble roles in huge franchises can produce enormous cumulative box-office numbers.
9. Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow has one of the longest filmographies among the women near the top of this ranking.
Her biggest contribution to her cumulative total came from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where she played Pepper Potts opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark.
She appeared in several Iron Man films as well as major ensemble MCU movies.
Her worldwide career box office is estimated at around $6.17 billion.
10. Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence combines franchise blockbusters with a much broader range of commercial films.
Her two largest franchises are The Hunger Games and X-Men, while films such as Passengers and Red Sparrow expanded her filmography beyond franchise cinema.
She has accumulated approximately $6.08 billion in worldwide box-office gross according to the ranking used here.
Unlike some actresses above her, Lawrence’s total isn’t built primarily around Marvel. The Hunger Games franchise was particularly important to her career.
11. Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz has one of the most interesting careers on this list because much of her box-office success came before the current superhero-franchise era.
Her filmography includes Shrek, Charlie’s Angels, The Mask, There’s Something About Mary and The Holiday.
The animated Shrek films were particularly valuable to her cumulative total because she voiced Princess Fiona across multiple entries.
Her career total is estimated at approximately $5.83 billion.
12. Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman’s career spans major franchises, critically acclaimed dramas and independent productions.
She entered the blockbuster conversation through Star Wars, playing Padmé Amidala in the prequel trilogy. She later joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Jane Foster in the Thor films.
Her cumulative worldwide box-office total is estimated at around $5.58 billion.
Her career demonstrates why cumulative gross can look very different from an actress’s reputation as a leading star: many of her critically acclaimed performances came in relatively modestly budgeted films.
13. Brie Larson
Brie Larson joined the upper tier of box-office performers through Marvel’s Captain Marvel.
The 2019 film became a global blockbuster, and Larson subsequently appeared in Avengers: Endgame and The Marvels.
Her career total is estimated at approximately $5.50 billion.
Her position could change as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to evolve and new films are released.
14. Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts represents an earlier generation of Hollywood box-office stars.
Unlike many actresses above her, her career was established long before the modern franchise era. Films such as Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, Erin Brockovich, Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve helped establish her as one of the industry’s most recognizable leading actresses.
Her cumulative worldwide total is estimated at approximately $5.44 billion.
15. Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock has combined romantic comedies, dramas, action films and major franchise projects throughout her career.
Her biggest commercial successes include Gravity, The Blind Side, Ocean’s 8 and Speed.
She has accumulated approximately $5.40 billion in worldwide box-office gross in the published ranking.
Gravity was especially important, becoming one of the biggest global successes of Bullock’s career.
16. Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez has appeared in several of Hollywood’s most commercially successful action franchises.
Her most important contribution comes from the Fast & Furious franchise, where she plays Letty Ortiz. She also appeared in James Cameron’s Avatar, adding another enormous global blockbuster to her filmography.
Her cumulative worldwide gross is estimated at approximately $4.95 billion.
17. Daisy Ridley
Daisy Ridley’s position is largely driven by one of cinema’s most recognizable franchises: Star Wars.
She played Rey in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. The first of those films crossed $2 billion worldwide, while the trilogy collectively generated several billion dollars.
Her career total is estimated at approximately $4.85 billion.
What’s striking about Ridley’s ranking is the relatively small number of films behind the total.
18. Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Nyong’o’s career includes some of the biggest franchises in modern Hollywood.
She played Nakia in the Black Panther films and appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She also provided the voice of Raksha in The Jungle Book and starred in films such as Us and A Quiet Place: Day One.
Her cumulative worldwide box-office total is estimated at around $4.50 billion.
19. Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly’s career has been boosted by two major franchises: The Hobbit and Marvel’s Ant-Man films.
She plays Tauriel in The Hobbit trilogy and Hope van Dyne / Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Her cumulative box-office total is estimated at approximately $4.40 billion.
20. Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep closes the top 20, although her route to the ranking looks very different from that of the younger franchise stars.
Streep has one of the longest and most acclaimed careers in Hollywood, with major films including The Devil Wears Prada, Mamma Mia!, Into the Woods, The Iron Lady and Don’t Look Up.
Her cumulative worldwide box-office total is estimated at approximately $4.39 billion.
Her ranking also highlights an important limitation of cumulative box-office lists: an actress can have an extraordinary career without appearing in dozens of giant franchise films.
What Makes an Actress a High-Grossing Star?
Looking at the ranking, one pattern is hard to miss: franchises matter enormously.
Marvel alone accounts for a large proportion of the filmography of the women near the top. Zoe Saldaña has Avatar and Marvel. Scarlett Johansson has Marvel. Karen Gillan, Elizabeth Olsen, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira and Pom Klementieff have all benefited heavily from the MCU.
Other franchises have played similar roles.
Emma Watson’s position is largely connected to Harry Potter. Daisy Ridley’s ranking is closely tied to Star Wars. Cameron Diaz benefited from Shrek, while Jennifer Lawrence’s career total received a major boost from The Hunger Games.
This doesn’t mean an actress personally generated every dollar attributed to her films. A film’s box-office result reflects the combined work of the cast, director, studio, marketing campaign, franchise recognition, release timing and many other factors.
That distinction is important when interpreting these rankings.
Zoe Saldaña vs. Scarlett Johansson: Who Is Number One?
For several years, Scarlett Johansson was the leading female name in cumulative worldwide box-office rankings.
That changed after Zoe Saldaña’s films benefited from the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash. By January 2026, Guinness World Records recognized Saldaña as the highest-grossing actress in leading roles, with more than $15.6 billion from 18 lead-role films.
The race is unusually close.
Saldaña’s career has been powered by Avatar, Marvel and Star Trek, while Johansson built her total through Marvel, Jurassic World: Rebirth, The Jungle Book, Sing and other major releases.
Both demonstrate the enormous effect that a handful of billion-dollar franchises can have on an actor’s cumulative box-office record.
Does Highest-Grossing Mean Highest-Paid?
No.
A box-office ranking measures the theatrical revenue generated by films associated with an actor. It does not tell us how much money that actor personally earned.
For example, an actress can appear in a hugely successful ensemble movie but receive a relatively small salary compared with the film’s total box office.
Conversely, an actress can command an enormous salary for a film that performs modestly at the box office.
So terms such as highest-grossing actress, highest-paid actress, richest actress and most successful actress should not be treated as interchangeable.
Why Marvel Dominates the List
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had an unusually large effect on cumulative actor box-office rankings.
Films such as Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War generated billions worldwide. Endgame currently has a worldwide lifetime gross of roughly $2.8 billion, while Infinity War has passed $2 billion.
An actor who appears in several of these films can therefore add billions to their cumulative career total without needing dozens of individual movies.
That explains why several actresses with comparatively short filmographies rank ahead of performers who have worked consistently for decades.
Highest-Grossing Actress vs. Highest-Grossing Female-Led Movie
These are two different records.
Highest-grossing actress: measures the combined box office of films in an actress’s career under the chosen methodology.
Highest-grossing female-led movie: measures the worldwide performance of a particular movie with a female lead.
For example, an actress can rank highly because she appeared in multiple ensemble blockbusters, even if she has never headlined the highest-grossing female-led movie.
This distinction is useful when comparing actors because cumulative box office is strongly influenced by ensemble franchises.
How We Ranked the Actresses
For this page, the ranking is based on cumulative worldwide theatrical box-office gross associated with an actress’s filmography, rather than salary, net worth or individual-film records.
The underlying data includes major acting roles and, depending on the source methodology, voice performances. The published The Numbers-based rankings also make clear that these lists can change as new films are released and older films receive updated box-office figures.
There are a few limitations worth keeping in mind:
- Figures are not adjusted for inflation. Older movies therefore tend to be disadvantaged compared with modern blockbusters.
- Franchise films can heavily influence totals.
- Ensemble movies count toward an actor’s career total, even when an actress isn’t the sole star.
- Different databases use different definitions of a leading role.
- Box-office totals change as re-releases and reporting updates occur.
For that reason, rankings can differ between sources. Guinness, for example, currently identifies Saldaña as the record-holder specifically for leading roles, while older published rankings may show different totals and positions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the highest-grossing actress of all time?
Zoe Saldaña currently holds the leading-role global box-office record. Guinness World Records recorded her at more than $15.6 billion across 18 leading-role films as of January 26, 2026.
Is Scarlett Johansson still the highest-grossing actress?
No. Scarlett Johansson previously held the top position, but Zoe Saldaña moved ahead following the success of Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Why is Zoe Saldaña so high on the list?
Saldaña has appeared in several of the most commercially successful film franchises ever made, including Avatar, Marvel and Star Trek. Four of her films have appeared among the top 10 highest-grossing movies globally at various points, according to Guinness.
Is the highest-grossing actress also the highest-paid actress?
No. Box-office gross and actor salary are completely different measurements. A film can make billions without the lead actor personally earning billions.
Which actress has appeared in the highest-grossing movie?
Zoe Saldaña has appeared in Avatar, currently one of the highest-grossing films in worldwide box-office history. Scarlett Johansson appeared in Avengers: Endgame, another film near the very top of the global chart.
Does inflation affect this ranking?
Yes. These are generally nominal box-office figures, meaning they are not adjusted for inflation. A movie released decades ago had much lower ticket prices than a modern blockbuster, so direct comparisons across eras should be treated carefully.
Why are so many Marvel actresses on the list?
The MCU has produced multiple films that earned more than $1 billion worldwide, with Avengers: Endgame approaching $2.8 billion and Avengers: Infinity War exceeding $2 billion. Appearing in several of these ensemble films can add billions to an actress’s cumulative total.
Who is the highest-grossing actress without Marvel?
The answer depends on the precise methodology and the roles counted. Actresses such as Emma Watson, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lawrence and Daisy Ridley built their totals primarily through franchises outside Marvel.
The highest-grossing actresses list tells an interesting story about how modern Hollywood works.
Zoe Saldaña’s rise to the top isn’t the result of one franchise alone. Avatar, Marvel and Star Trek have collectively placed her in an unusually strong position. Scarlett Johansson came close through the MCU and later major releases, while Emma Watson reached third largely through the extraordinary commercial success of Harry Potter.
Further down the ranking, the same pattern continues. Karen Gillan, Elizabeth Olsen, Letitia Wright and Danai Gurira benefited from Marvel. Jennifer Lawrence had The Hunger Games and X-Men. Daisy Ridley had Star Wars. Cameron Diaz had Shrek.
The numbers therefore measure more than individual star power. They also reveal which franchises have dominated the global movie business over the past few decades. And as new blockbusters arrive, this ranking will keep changing.
