Special Report
What Actors Made Per Minute of Screen Time in Their Oscar Nominated Movie
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As hard work goes, unless you’re Tom Cruise jumping from building to building in a Mission: Impossible movie, film acting is usually not a particularly dangerous or arduous endeavor – unlike the labors of an electrician or a mason. But for those at the top of the acting profession, it can be extremely lucrative, even for a brief time on screen. (Here’s every movie genre’s top-grossing actor.)
To determine how much this year’s Oscar nominees made per minute of screen time, 24/7 Tempo reviewed “Oscars 2023: The highest-paid actors ranked by earnings per minute of screen time,” a report published by TradingPedia, a financial news site. To arrive at earnings per minute, the site calculated the reported or estimated salary of each actor and the amount of time he or she was onscreen. It’s worth noting that those who made the most overall didn’t necessarily make the most per minute, if their roles kept them on screen longer.
Some of cinema’s brightest stars are paid huge amounts of money to appear briefly in a film. According to TradingPedia, this is not new, peaking in the 1990s as film franchises – which frequently feature cameos by some of the biggest names in Hollywood – began to flourish.
Click here to learn how much this year’s Oscar nominees made per minute of screen time
At the 2023 Oscars, the four nominated actors who were paid the most in total – Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon, Brendan Gleeson, and Colin Farrell – all appeared in the same film, “The Banshees of Inisherin.” All reportedly received a salary of about $3 million – and Keoghan, Condon, and Gleeson all were paid the most per minute. (None of these four Irish thespians received an Academy Award, however.)
Under the nice-work-if-you-can-get-it heading, kudos for Judd Hirsch. The acting veteran parlayed his eight minutes of screen time in “The Fabelmans” into a best supporting actor nomination and a payday of $100,000, or estimated earnings per minute of $12,500. Previous Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine,” “The Aviator”) worked the longest for her compensation in “Tár.” She was onscreen for 135 minutes to earn a reported $1 million, or $7,407.41 a minute. (See the world’s most bankable actors right now.)
20. Andrea Riseborough
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Leading Role
> Film: To Leslie
> Reported earnings: $100,000
> Screen time (rounded): 93
> Estimated earnings per minute: $1,075.27
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19. Paul Mescal
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Leading Role
> Film: Aftersun
> Reported earnings: $100,000
> Screen time (rounded): 58
> Estimated earnings per minute: $1,724.14
18. Ke Huy Quan
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Supporting Role (Won)
> Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once
> Reported earnings: $200,000
> Screen time (rounded): 59
> Estimated earnings per minute: $3,389.83
17. Hong Chau
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Supporting Role
> Film: The Whale
> Reported earnings: $100,000
> Screen time (rounded): 25
> Estimated earnings per minute: $4,000
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16. Bill Nighy
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Leading Role
> Film: Living
> Reported earnings: $200,000
> Screen time (rounded): 48
> Estimated earnings per minute: $4,166.67
15. Stephanie Hsu
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Supporting Role
> Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once
> Reported earnings: $200,000
> Screen time (rounded): 42
> Estimated earnings per minute: $4,761.90
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14. Austin Butler
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Leading Role
> Film: Elvis
> Reported earnings: $700,000
> Screen time (rounded): 96
> Estimated earnings per minute: $7,291.67
13. Cate Blanchett
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Leading Role
> Film: Tár
> Reported earnings: $1,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 135
> Estimated earnings per minute: $7,407.41
12. Ana de Armas
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Leading Role
> Film: Blonde
> Reported earnings: $1,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 114
> Estimated earnings per minute: $8,771.93
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11. Michelle Yeoh
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Leading Role (Won)
> Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once
> Reported earnings: $1,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 95
> Estimated earnings per minute: $10,526.32
10. Brendan Fraser
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Leading Role (Won)
> Film: The Whale
> Reported earnings: $1,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 82
> Estimated earnings per minute: $12,195.12
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9. Judd Hirsch
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Supporting Role
> Film: The Fabelmans
> Reported earnings: $100,000
> Screen time (rounded): 8
> Estimated earnings per minute: $12,500
8. Michelle Williams
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Leading Role
> Film: The Fabelmans
> Reported earnings: $800,000
> Screen time (rounded): 52
> Estimated earnings per minute: $15,384.62
7. Angela Bassett
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Supporting Role
> Film: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
> Reported earnings: $350,000
> Screen time (rounded): 22
> Estimated earnings per minute: $15,909.09
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6. Jamie Lee Curtis
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Supporting Role (Won)
> Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once
> Reported earnings: $500,000
> Screen time (rounded): 17
> Estimated earnings per minute: $29,411.76
5. Colin Farrell
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Leading Role
> Film: The Banshees of Inisherin
> Reported earnings: $3,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 69
> Estimated earnings per minute: $43,478.26
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4. Brian Tyree Henry
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Supporting Role
> Film: Causeway
> Reported earnings: $1,500,000
> Screen time (rounded): 30
> Estimated earnings per minute: $50,000
3. Brendan Gleeson
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Supporting Role
> Film: The Banshees of Inisherin
> Reported earnings: $3,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 35
> Estimated earnings per minute: $85,714.29
2. Kerry Condon
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actress in a Supporting Role
> Film: The Banshees of Inisherin
> Reported earnings: $3,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 23
> Estimated earnings per minute: $130,434.78
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1. Barry Keoghan
> 2023 Oscar nomination: Actor in a Supporting Role
> Film: The Banshees of Inisherin
> Reported earnings: $3,000,000
> Screen time (rounded): 14
> Estimated earnings per minute: $214,285.71
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