Hollywood is always looking for the biggest stars who can bring the most people to the box office (and now, get the most people to click "rent" on VOD).
Old Hollywood actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Kathryn Hepburn and Bette Davis were the biggest stars of their day and known around the world for their screen presence. Put them in a movie, and an audience was guaranteed.
So which actresses today are the most trusted by studios to bring in a huge audience? SavingSpot crunched the numbers and tallied up which Hollywood stars are worth the most bang for their buck. These movie actresses have great return on investment (ROI) per dollar spent on their paycheck.
Age: 47
Net worth: $160 million
Average salary per movie: $11,151,432
Average ROI per dollar spent on her salary: $5.96
Average Metacritic rating for their entire career: 51.5
Bottom line: Charlize Theron got her start playing Keanu Reeves' wife in the 1997 movie "The Devil's Advocate," a role where she ends up going insane after Satan (played by Al Pacino) has his evil ways with her.
She had a breakout role as the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in "Monster," which netted her an Academy Award.
While Theron's recent movies are often critically well-regarded, they don't always perform well at the box office. See: "Bombshell."
All ROI and movie numbers are from SavingSpot.
Age: 55
Net worth: $250 million
Average salary per movie: $11,125,037
Average ROI per dollar spent on her salary: $12.97
Average Metacritic rating for her entire career: 57.2
Bottom line: Nicole Kidman has had a long and accomplished career in Hollywood, with a breakout role in "Days of Thunder" where she met her soon-to-be husband, Tom Cruise.
The two were together for a surprisingly long 11 years, and during that time, Kidman bolstered her career with a number of films like "Moulin Rouge!" and "The Others."
While Kidman has found steady work every year for decades, she now mostly plays supporting roles.
Age: 38
Net worth: $165 million
Average salary per movie: $10,530,148
Average ROI per dollar spent on her salary: $16.79
Average Metacritic rating for her entire career: 52
Bottom line: Thanks to "Endgame" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett Johansson is the highest-grossing actress in Hollywood.
But Johansson's movies can be a mixed bag, box office-wise, because she often stars in lower-budget movies like "Marriage Story."
Expect her ROI to jump after the box-office takes of "Black Widow" are tallied.
Age: 46
Net worth: $200 million
Average salary per movie: $15,704,154
Average ROI per dollar spent on her salary: $17.40
Average Metacritic rating for her entire career: 46
Bottom line: Reese Witherspoon may not have the best ROI for a major studio, but she hasn't starred in many big-budget productions since 2014's "Wild," which made $52.5 million on a $15 million budget.
Witherspoon has shifted her priorities from starring in movies to her own multimedia production company, Hello Sunshine.
She has inked deals with Apple, earning $40 million just from "The Morning Show."
For more about the business of Hollywood, check out Work + Money.