For Robert Downey Jr., it pays to be "Iron Man." Downey has been crowned Hollywood's highest-paid actor by Forbes magazine for the second year in a row, with an estimated haul of $75 million within the past year alone. Find out who else is playing in his league:
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is "Hercules" this summer, but he's been pretty busy lately, starring in no less than five films in 2013. For his hard work, Forbes estimates the wrestler-turned-actor earned around $52 million.
Bradley Cooper, center, has earned both the money and critical accolades over the past year. In 2013, he did another installment of the popular "Hangover" franchise (with Ed Helms, left, and Zach Galifianakis), but then he also took on the more acclaimed "American Hustle." Between June 2013 and June 2014, Cooper earned roughly $46 million, enough to debut on Forbes' list.
Leonardo DiCaprio still didn't win an Oscar in 2013, but he has enough money to go "The Wolf of Wall Street" if he wanted. Despite cutting his upfront fee to get "Wolf" made, DiCaprio earned an estimated $39 million over the past 12 months, Forbes reports. Here he plays the title role in "J. Edgar," the 2011 bio of the FBI chief.
Chris Hemsworth's reign as Thor comes with a princely sum. The Australian actor, here with co-star Natalie Portman, is in the top five of Forbes' highest-paid actors list this year, earning an estimated $37 million.
Liam Neeson is taking action movies such as "Taken" all the way to the bank. After releasing "Taken 2" in 2012, Neeson didn't act much in 2013 -- there were "Third Person" and "Khumba" -- but he still saw $36 million between June 2013 and June 2014. And "Taken 3"? It's lined up for 2015.
Ben Affleck splits his time in front of and behind the camera, but he can still command a pretty penny as an actor. Forbes estimates the Oscar winner (here in "Argo") made $35 million in the past year. He's now playing Batman in "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice."
"The Dark Knight's" Christian Bale may have left hero work behind in 2013 in favor of riskier fare such as "Out of the Furnace" and "American Hustle," but he still made an estimated $35 million. To see more actors who made the cut, visit Forbes.com.
- Robert Downey Jr. seems willing to do another "Iron Man"
- It's up to execs, he tells magazine, but says, "This has just been swell"
- First three "Iron Man" films have been hugely successful
(CNN) -- Another go at "Iron Man"? Robert Downey Jr. would welcome the opportunity.
Hollywood's highest-paid actor told Entertainment Weekly that he would have no problem putting on the big red suit if Marvel will have him back.
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"It's down to Kevin (Feige, Marvel Studios president) and Ike (Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel Entertainment) and Disney to come to us with what the proposal is, and that's on us to agree or disagree," Downey said. But he added, "Right now, this has just been swell, hasn't it?"
Downey is currently filming the new "Avengers" movie.
The first three "Iron Man" films have been among the highest-grossing of the last decade. The first, "Iron Man" (2008), made more than $300 million in the United States and close to $600 million overall. The second, "Iron Man 2" (2010), did about the same here but improved on its overseas performance.
And the third film, "Iron Man 3" (2013), made more than $400 million domestically and -- including international grosses -- topped out at more than $1.2 billion.
Downey was careful to add a "you never know" to his apparent enthusiasm.
"It's that thing of: Why give up the belt when it feels like you can barely get jabbed?" he said. "Most people are saying that right when they get knocked out."
