Sofia Vergara Named Highest Paid TV Actress: Forbes
Forbes released the numbers Wednesday from its annual roster of the highest paid actors and actresses on U.S. television and for the third consecutive year Sofia Vergara took the number one spot. Vergara out-earned the rest of the big female names in Hollywood's high income game several million times over.
According to the Forbes report, Vergara, who stars in ABC's hit show "Modern Family," has officially taken the top spot for the third year in a row. Her income over the 2013-2014 year came in at a total of $37 million, which is over $10 million more than television's highest paid male actor -- Ashton Kutcher. The fact that she out-earned Kutcher by a whole bunch is an unexpected bit of news when you consider that according to Forbes' facts and figures the top 10 male TV actors on the list combined earn over $70 million more than the top 10 females combined. Vergara is hot, hot, hot right now and it looks like she's breaking all the rules.
The Colombian native, who Forbes called TV's "most powerful woman," earns approximately $325,000 per episode for her "Modern Family" role, which is the same amount as the rest of her fellow cast members make. However, this in-demand power hitter is involved in a whole slew of other high-paying gigs that make up the bulk of her annual earnings.
According to Forbes, the majority of Vergara's income comes from her "lucrative endorsements and licensing deals." Among them, Vergara is the "face" of Diet Pepsi, Cover Girl, Head & Shoulders, AT&T and the pharmaceutical drug Synthroid.
Reuters reports that Señorita Vergara is also the co-founder of Latin World Entertainment, a talent, management and entertainment marketing firm with headquarters in Los Angeles and Miami. On top of that, Vergara continues to maintain her 12-year long business relationship with K-Mart. Piling on even more financially-friendly accomplishments, the South American leading lady launched her own fragrance this year on the Home Shopping Network (HSN).
Vergara also starred in three films between 2013 and 2014. Included in the roster was an indie hit that garnered rave reviews from critics, called "Chef." In addition, Vergara starred in an animated film called "Escape From Planet Earth," with co-stars that included Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, George Lopez, William Shatner and more. Her third silver screen success this past year came in the form of an action comedy called "Machete Kills" that billed in its cast big names including Mel Gibson, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlie Sheen and many more of Tinseltown's most well-known movie stars.
With her finger in all of these (money-making!) pies and more, Vergara out-earns Forbes' second highest paid actress -- Mariska Hargitay of "Law & Order: SVU" -- by a cool $24 million. Hargitay brought in an approximate total of $13 million between 2013 and 2014. Rounding out the top three spot is Kaley Cuoco whose role as Penny on "The Big Bang Theory" helped her rake in an estimated $11 million last year.
Forbes calculates the numbers for highest paid TV actors and actresses using research from its' annual "Celebrity 100" list, which is partly based on how much Hollywood's biggest stars earn from "entertainment-related endeavors." More detailed estimates that are used to calculate the final earnings totals are reportedly based on conversations with Tinseltown managers, producers, lawyers, and industry insiders.
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