Sandra Bullock soared above the rest to top Forbes' list of highest earning actress with $51 million earned over the last year (June 2013 to June 2014), due in large part to her surprise box-office winner "Gravity."
Bullock starred as astronaut Ryan Stone in Alfonso Cuaron's Oscar-winning film, which made $716 million worldwide, according to Forbes.com. She received a nomination for the role, but lost to Cate Blanchett who won for her role in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.
"Whether it's in comedy or drama, if I don't figure out how to have (the character's) life experience, then I can't do it or I feel like I'm faking it," Bullock said in a December interview with Deadline about tapping into her characters.
The Oscar-winning "Blind Side" actress beat out last year's top earner Angelina Jolie, who fell to number five this year behind Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow and tied with Cameron Diaz. Jolie topped the list last year with $33 million, compared to $18 million this year.
Rounding out the top 10 were actresses Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart. All but Stewart starred in big-budget superhero movies in the past year, with "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" for Johansson, "Man of Steel" for Adams and "Thor 2: The Dark World" for Portman.
Lawrence earned $34 million thanks to the Hunger Games franchise, while Aniston brought in $31 million due to her surprise hit "We're The Millers" and her endorsement deal with Aveeno. Paltrow earned $19 million to rank fourth, although not nearly as much as her "Iron Man 3" co-star Robert Downey Jr. who topped Forbes' List for Highest Earning Actor with $75 million.
Coming in behind Downey Jr. for high earning actors were Dwayne Johnson ($52 million), Bradley Cooper ($46 million), Leonardo DiCaprio ($39 million) and RDJ's "Avengers" co-star Chris Hemsworth ($37 million).
