Is Samuel Jackson the Highest Paid Actor in Hollywood?

Do you remember the first movie or TV show in which you saw actor Samuel L. Jackson? Interestingly enough, he first entered the public eye as an actor in 1972, and was in such popular films as “Ragtime” and “Eddie Murphy – Raw” before he became truly famous. His history as an actor is remarkably diverse and he has played everything from gangsters to multi-layered characters capable of murder and gospel preaching all at the same time.

Is he the highest paid actor in Hollywood? No, surprisingly enough. He is certainly among the most sought after and highly regarded, but he doesn’t pull in the enormous salaries that many other male leads can demand. This is interesting to consider when you take even a quick look at his track record as an actor.

For example, he was in “Patriot Games” with such big names as Harrison Ford and Sean Bean. He was also in “Jurassic Park”, “Die Hard: With a Vengeance”, several of the Star Wars films, “The Incredibles”, “Kill Bill” “Iron Man” and “Pulp Fiction”. Such an impressive list would make one think that he is an actor that can easily compete with most of the top-earning stars, and while his actual skills as an actor tend to blow away viewers and critics alike, he doesn’t earn the tens of millions that many of his peers demand.

This is unfortunate because Samuel L. Jackson is a remarkable character actor who tends to bring a huge amount of value to even the simplest of lines of dialog. Anyone who saw him in such films as “A Time to Kill” or “The Long Kiss Goodnight” will know that he is an actor of tremendous skill and sincerity. He can be the most dubious of characters and yet he can create a humanity and likability that is impossible to ignore.

Although Samuel L. Jackson is not the highest paid actor working in modern Hollywood, he is clearly one of its highest ranking professionals.