HIGHEST PAID ACTORS IN 2015

Forbes released the annual list of the highest paid actors world wide. 

1.Robert Downey Jr., $80 million

Robert Downey Jr. is an American actor best known for his iconic role in the Iron Man series. Three of the films starring Downey Jr. (The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Iron Man 3) each earned over $1 billion. He has topped the Forbes list of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors for three consecutive years.


2.Jackie Chan, $50 million

Jackie Chan is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, stuntman, and singer. Featured in more than 150 films, he is notable for his acrobatic fighting style and original stunts. A devoted philanthropist, Chan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With the help of highly profitable franchises such as Dragon Blade, Chan made $50 million in the past 12 months.

3.Vin Diesel, $47 million

Diesel is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his portrayals of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious film series and Richard B. Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick trilogy. Between June 2014 and June 2015, Diesel earned $47 million, which made him the third highest paid actor of the year.

4.Bradley Cooper, $41.5 million

Cooper first gained recognition in the spy-action television show Alias and the television drama Jack & Bobby. He later appeared in supporting roles in the romantic comedies Wedding Crashers (2005), Yes Man (2008), and He’s Just Not That Into You (2009). His breakthrough role came with the comedy franchise The Hangover trilogy (2009–13) that earned him international fame.

5.Adam Sandler, $41 million

Sandler is a popular American actor, comedian, screenwriter, entrepreneur, film producer, and musician. Featured in films that combined have grossed over $2 billion at the box office, he is best known for his comedic roles in films such as Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer and Big Daddy. He has also appeared in more dramatic roles in movies like Punch-Drunk Love, Spanglish, and Reign Over Me.

6.Tom Cruise, $40 million

One of the biggest movie stars ever, Tom Cruise has starred in many blockbusters such as Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, Rain Man, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, War of the Worlds and many others. A holder of three Golden Globe Awards, Cruise was the Hollywood´s highest paid actor in 2012.

7.Amitabh Bachchan, $33.5 million

Amitabh Bachchan is the oldest of the Bollywood actors listed in the ranking. Featured in almost 200 Indian films, Bachchan has won numerous major awards in his exceptionally long career, including three National Film Awards as Best Actor. In 2013, he even made his Hollywood debut in the epic drama The Great Gatsby, in which he played a non-Indian Jewish character.

8.Salman Khan, $33.5 million

Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan better known as Salman Khan is an Indian film actor, and “The Tiger of Bollywood”, “Blockbuster Khan” or “Box-office King”, Salman Khan is another Indian actor, producer and celebrity., Khan has starred in the highest-grossing Bollywood films of nine separate years which is a Bollywood record.

9.Akshay Kumar, $32.5 million

Akshay Kumar is an Indian actor, producer, stuntman and martial artist. Featured in more than a hundred Hindi films, Kumar is one of the most famous and successful actors in the history of the Indian cinema. In 2013, the net box-office collection of his films was reported to have crossed US$300 million, making him the first and the only Bollywood actor to do so.

10.Mark Wahlberg, $32 million

Mark Wahlberg is an American actor, producer, businessman and former model and rapper. Originally, Wahlberg tried to win renown as a musician but he later transitioned to acting. He is now best known for his roles in films such as the science fiction Planet of the Apes, the crime drama The Departed, the comedy The Other Guys, the sports drama The Fighter, and the sci-fi action film Transformers: Age of Extinction.

11.Dwayne Johnson, $31.5 million(ROCK)

Dwayne Johnson is an American and Canadian actor, producer, and professional wrestler. He gained mainstream fame in the World Wrestling Federation in 1996 and three years later, he also began his acting career. For his first leading role in The Scorpion King (2002), he was paid US $5.5 million, a world record for an actor in his first starring role

12.Johnny Depp, $30 million

Johnny Depp is generally regarded as one of the world´s biggest movie stars. Films featuring Depp have grossed over $3.1 billion at the United States box office and over $7.6 billion worldwide. In 2012, he was listed by the Guinness World Records as the highest paid actor, with earnings of $75 million.

13.Leonardo DiCaprio, $29 million

Leonardo DiCaprio began his career as early as in 1989 (when he was 15) but it was not until his unforgettable role in James Cameron´s Titanic (1997) when he achieved international fame and credit. Since then, he has appeared in numerous films of all kinds of genres such as the adventure film The Man in the Iron Mask, the crime drama Catch Me If You Can, the western Django Unchained and the black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street.

14.Channing Tatum, $29 million

Tatum is an American actor, film producer, dancer and model. Although some of the films he starred in received negative reviews from critics, most of them were very successful commercially. Step Up, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Magic Mike, 21 and 22 Jump Street and The Vow are films that made him one of the most popular Hollywood actors.

15.Chris Hemsworth, $27 million

Chris Hemsworth is best known for his roles in the Australian TV series Home and Away (2004) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). He has also appeared in Star Trek. Last year, he earned $27 million.

16.Daniel Craig, $27 million

Daniel Craig is an English actor who achieved international fame when chosen as the sixth actor to play the role of James Bond 007 in the official film series, taking over from Pierce Brosnan in 2005. Since then, Craig has starred in three Bond movies. His third Bond film, Skyfall, (2012) is the twelfth highest-grossing film of all time.

17.Matthew McConaughey, $26.5 million

McConaughey is best known for his roles in romantic comedies such as The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch or Fool’s Gold but he also acted in other genres films including the black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street, the sci-fi film Interstellar and the drama Dallas Buyers Club which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

18.Shah Rukh Khan, $26 million

King of Bollywood or King Khan, Shah Rukh Khan is an Indian film actor, producer and television personality. With an estimated net worth of up to $600 million, Khan is one of the richest actors in the world. Los Angeles Times even described him as the world´s biggest movie star

19.Will Smith, $26 million

The winner of four Grammy Awards and nominee for four Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, Smith is best known for his legendary roles in Bad Boys and Men In Black series. In 2007, Newsweek called him “the most powerful actor in Hollywood” while Forbes ranked him as the most bankable star worldwide.

20.Matt Damon, $25 million

A prominent American actor, screenwriter and producer, Damon was ranked one of the top-40 highest-grossing actors of all time according to Forbes. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named the Sexiest Man Alive by the People magazine

21.Hugh Jackman, $23 million

Hugh Jackman is an Australian actor and producer. Best known for his roles in the X-Men film series, action-horror film Van Helsing (2004), magic-themed drama The Prestige (2006), epic historical romantic drama Australia (2008) and the thriller Prisoners (2013)

22.Ben Affleck, $19.5 million

A popular American actor, film director, screenwriter and producer, Ben Affleck gained fame when he won the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997). He has starred in several high-profile films including Armageddon (1998), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001) and Changing Lanes (2002). His most recent endeavor is currently the role of Batman in the upcoming movie Batman V Superman.

23.Liam Neeson, $19.5 million

Liam Neeson has starred in numerous films including Excalibur, Schindler’s List, The Bounty, Star Wars Episode I, Love Actually, several Batman films etc. In 2014, Neeson made an appearance in seven films (e.g. the Nut Job or A Walk Among The Tombstones) that earned him almost $20 million.

24.Chow Yun-fat, $18 million

Donald Chow Yun-fat is a popular Hong Kong actor. He mainly plays in dramatic films and has won three Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor and two Golden Horse Awards for Best Actor in Taiwan

25.Russell Crowe, $18 million

Russell Crowe is most famous for his role as the Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator

Apple, Samsung and Sony use child labour for manufacturing

In a report into cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it found children as young as seven working in dangerous conditions.

Cobalt is a a vital component of lithium-ion batteries.

The firms said that they had a zero tolerance policy towards child labour.

The DRC produces at least 50% of the world's cobalt. Miners working in the area face long-term health problems and the risk of fatal accidents, according to Amnesty.

It claimed that at least 80 miners had died underground in southern DRC between September 2014 and December 2015.

It also collected the testimonies of children who allegedly work in the mines.

Paul, a 14-year-old orphan, started mining when he was 12 and told researchers: "I would spend 24 hours down in the tunnels. I arrived in the morning and would leave the following morning ... I had to relieve myself down in the tunnels … My foster mother planned to send me to school, but my foster father was against it, he exploited me by making me work in the mine."

UNICEF estimates that there are approximately 40,000 children working in mines across southern DRC.

In response to the report, Apple said: "Underage labour is never tolerated in our supply chain and we are proud to have led the industry in pioneering new safeguards."

It said that it conducts rigorous audits on its supply chain and any supplier found hiring underage workers is forced to:

• fund the worker's safe return home
• finance the worker's education at a school chosen by the worker or his/her family
• continue to pay the worker's wages
• offer him or her a job when he or she reaches legal age to work.

On cobalt specifically it added: "We are currently evaluating dozens of different materials, including cobalt, in order to identify labour and environmental risks as well as opportunities for Apple to bring about effective, scalable and sustainable change."

Samsung said that it had a "zero tolerance policy" towards child labour and that, it too, conducted regular and rigorous audits of its supply chain.

"If a violation of child labour is found, contracts with suppliers who use child labour will be immediately terminated," it said.

Sony commented: "We are working with the suppliers to address issues related to human rights and labour conditions at the production sites, as well as in the procurement of minerals and other raw materials."

Paradox?

The Amnesty report, which was jointly researched with African Resources Watch (Afrewatch), traced how traders buy cobalt from areas where child labour is rife, selling it on to firm Congo Dongfang Mining (CDM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese mineral giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd.

Amnesty contacted 16 multinationals who were listed as customers of the battery manufacturers, who in turn source minerals from Huayou Cobalt.

One company admitted the connection while four others were unable to say for certain the source of the cobalt they used. Five denied sourcing the mineral from the firm, despite being listed as customers in company documents and two others said that they did not source cobalt from DRC.

Six firms said that they were investigating the claims.

"It is a major paradox of the digital era that some of the world's richest, most innovative companies are able to market incredibly sophisticated devices without being required to show where they source raw materials for their components," said executive director of Afrewatch (Africa Resources Watch) Emmanuel Umpula.

"The abuses in mines remain out of sight and out of mind because in today's global marketplace, consumers have no idea about the conditions at the mine, factory and assembly line. We found that traders are buying cobalt without asking questions about how and where it was mined."

Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty said that mining was "one of the worst forms of child labour".

"The glamorous shop displays and marketing of state of the art technologies are a stark contrast to the children carrying bags of rocks and miners in narrow man-made tunnels risking permanent lung damage," he said.

"Millions of people enjoy the benefits of new technologies but rarely ask how they are made. It is high time the big brands took some responsibility for the mining of the raw materials that make their lucrative products.

"Companies whose global profits total $125bn (£86.7bn) cannot credibly claim that they are unable to check where key minerals in their productions come from," he said.

It should be noted that the majority of the children working in the mining industry in DRC do not enter the underground mines but perform a variety of tasks on the surface, including scavenging for ore and sorting minerals that have been mined underground.