Hollywood has a new queen bee, and the money made from her movie portfolio outmatches the market caps of billion-dollar companies like Alaska Airlines and H&R Block. Academy Award-winning star Zoe Saldaña was just crowned the highest-grossing actor in Hollywood, surpassing Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson after a breakout year of entertainment.
The movies Saldaña has starred in as a leading actress have earned a staggering $15.47 billion—ranking her above every other actor in the world—according to recent data from The Numbers. Following the immense $1.08 billion global success of Avatar: Fire and Ash, she finally overtook her Marvel peer Johansson ($15.4 billion) and Hollywood icon Jackson ($14.6 billion), who ranked above her in 2024.
The 47-year-old is also the first woman in Hollywood to have starred in four projects that have amassed more than $2 billion globally. And 2025 was her year—aside from the success of Fire and Ash, she won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Emilia Pérez, becoming the first Dominican American to win an Academy Award.
Saldaña took to the internet to celebrate her most recent milestone. “I just want to express my sincerest gratitude for the extraordinary journey that has led me to become the highest-grossing film actor of all time today,” Saldaña said in an Instagram video. “An achievement made possible entirely, entirely by the incredible franchises and the collaborators that I have been fortunate enough to be a part of, to every director who placed their trust in me.”
She also credited the directors of some of her biggest franchise hits—from Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy, to Avengers and Avatar—in challenging her and shaping her as an artist. But it’s her mom who gave her the biggest career advice, Saldaña has previously admitted.
Leaning on this critical advice while breaking barriers in Hollywood
Throughout her 27-year career starring in billion-dollar franchises and indie flicks, Saldaña has made her mark on Hollywood despite the challenges. As a woman and Latina in the movie industry, the actress has faced barriers and felt the pressure to work “twice as hard, because I’m a woman,” she told CNBC Make It.
In those tough moments, Saldaña leaned on the advice her mother gave her earlier on—which she “didn’t know how powerful that [advice] was going to be” until she had to navigate her own unique obstacles in entertainment.
“She was always reminding me that I mattered,” Saldana told CNBC Make It in 2019.
“She was like, ‘Don’t forget about you…Don’t forget about your happiness. Don’t forget about your beauty. Don’t forget about your opinion.’”
Hollywood’s top-grossing actresses and actors
The five top-grossing actresses and actors in leading roles at the worldwide box office, according to recent data from The Numbers:
- Zoe Saldaña: $15.5 billion
- Scarlett Johansson: $15.4 billion
- Emma Watson: $9.3 million
- Karen Gillan: $8.4 billion
- Elizabeth Olsen: $8.4 billion
- Samuel L. Jackson: $14.6 billion
- Robert Downey Jr.: $14.3 billion
- Chris Pratt: $14.1 billion
- Tom Cruise: $12.7 billion
- Chris Hemsworth: $12.2 billion
