Top 10 female movie stars making the leap to television
USING a formula based on box office power, Oscar history and sheer star quality, we’ve ranked 10 of the top actresses in Hollywood who have made the jump from movies to television.
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You don’t have to cast your mind back very far to remember a time when Hollywood’s big-screen elite looked down on their television colleagues. Stars of the small screen could ascend to the bright lights of film, but the reverse would be seen as virtual career suicide.
But there has been a not-so-subtle shift over the past few years that has seen the stigma attached to television removed and positioned the miniseries as the hottest ticket in town.
HBO arguably started the trend some years ago — its willingness to push boundaries and bring a new level of storytelling with shows such as The Sopranos and The Wire.
With the birth of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, the transition accelerated and the calibre of star increased.
Actresses have led the charge to the small screen with some of the highest paid and most respected in the industry plunging into the land of television.
High production values and the ability to tell more diverse stories without advertiser limitations might be behind HBO scoring Meryl Streep for season two of Big Little Lies — a show already charged by the power of Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. It also helped Amazon Prime Video snare Julia Roberts for Homecoming, its new thriller set to premiere in November.
The money can’t hurt either. Kidman and Witherspoon are believed to take home $350,000 per episode for Big Little Lies, with Drew Barrymore also paid this amount for her show The Santa Clarita Diet. It’s not known how much Streep and Roberts agreed to, but it’s safe to say it’s not pocket change.
Using a formula based on box office power, Oscar history and sheer star quality, we’ve ranked 10 of the top actresses in Hollywood who have made the jump from movies to television. And evidence of further change at the top in Hollywood, not all are working in front of the camera.
1. JULIA ROBERTS
Box office total: $6.07 billion
Oscars nominations: Steel Magnolias (1989), Pretty Woman (90), Erin Brokovich (2000), August: Osage County (13)
Oscar wins: Erin Brokovich
When you can convince someone of Julia Roberts’ calibre to take a break from the big screen and headline your new show, you best sign her up for a couple of seasons. That’s exactly what Amazon Prime Video has done, greenlighting two seasons of the new psychological thriller Homecoming. Roberts will play Heidi Bergman, a caseworker at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center, which helps soldiers transition back into civilian life. After leaving the job behind and settling into a quieter country life, she is visited by a defence investigator four years later who questions her reasons for leaving the facility — that’s where the mystery begins.
It is a huge coup for the streamer, with box-office star Roberts having stayed away from TV in the past apart from a couple of guest appearances over the years.
1. MERYL STREEP
Box office total: $3.99 billion
Oscar nominations: The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer v Kramer (79), The French Lieutenant’s Woman (81), Sophie’s Choice (82), Silkwood (83), Out Of Africa (85), Ironweed (87), Evil Angels (88), Postcards From The Edge (90), The Bridges Of Madison County (95), One True Thing (98), Music Of The Heart (99), Adaptation (02), The Devil Wears Prada (06), Doubt (08), Julie & Julia (09), The Iron Lady (11), August: Osage County (13), Into The Woods (14), Florence Foster Jenkins (16), The Post (17).
Oscar wins: Kramer v Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, The Iron Lady
As the undisputed queen of Hollywood — her gazillion Oscar nominations a testament to that fact — Streep comes in equal to Roberts, only her lower box office total preventing her from claiming the No.1 spot outright.
While Streep has appeared on the small screen a number of times, the announcement she would be joining the second season of Big Little Lies elevated the star-studded female cast to another level. Streep plays the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s season one character Perry Wright, who was the husband of Kidman’s Celeste.
3. REESE WITHERSPOON
Box office total: $2.8 billion
Oscars nominations: Walk The Line (2006), Wile (2015)
Oscar wins: Walk The Line (2006)
Her starring and producing involvement in Big Little Lies (pictured) is well known, but what is less known is the new show Reese Witherspoon is making with former Friends star Jennifer Aniston. The pair are producing and fronting a show about two morning program hosts. It will be one of Apple’s first scripted series and Witherspoon and Aniston are expected to pull in about $US1.25 million per episode — not bad considering the tech giant green lit a two-season, 20-episode run. American streaming service Hulu also has faith in Witherspoon’s power, ordering an eight-episode series of Little Fires Everywhere, a drama she will star in and executive produce with Kerry Washington.
4. NICOLE KIDMAN
Box office total: $3.9 billion
Oscar nominations: Moulin Rouge! (2002), The Hours (03), Rabbit Hole (11), Lion (17). Oscar wins: The Hours
Sure she did a bit of TV — Vietnam, Bangkok Hilton to name a couple — in the early stages of her career, but it wasn’t long before movies were Kidman’s pure focus. That all changed in 2017 when she starred in two critically acclaimed television shows: Top Of The Lake: China Girl and Big Little Lies (pictured top).
Kidman obviously has a lot of faith in the future of television having signed a deal with Amazon that will see her produce and star in The Expatriates and give them first look at future miniseries and movie projects from the Aussie’s Blossom Films.
5 EMMA STONE
Box office total: $3.7 billion
Oscars nominations: Birdman (2015), La La Land (17)
Oscar wins: La La Land
Birdman, La La Land, The Amazing Spider-Man, Superbad, Crazy Stupid Love — the list of blockbuster successes goes on and on for Emma Stone. Once again it’s Netflix which has lured her (and co-star Jonah Hill) to the small screen in the dark comedy series Maniac, which is set to premiere next month. She certainly hasn’t given up the silver screen though — she has at least five movies due out over the next few years including The Croods 2 and Little Women.
6. DREW BARRYMORE
Box office total: $2.67 billion
The Charlie’s Angels and 50 First Dates star is another who is embracing TV both in front of and behind the camera.
She has executive produced a number of series — mainly reality style shows — and is starring in and producing Santa Clarita Diet with Timothy Olyphant.
The former child star, who first shot to fame as Gertie in ET, spent a lot of time in movies, but seems to have really embraced the small screen.
“I think since Firestarter for me this is the most fun I have had with a f…ing kick-ass character. I think this is the best job, I am so lucky. I love this job,” she told Insider earlier this year.
7. JODIE FOSTER
Box office total: $2.1 billion
Oscars nominations: Taxi Driver (1977), The Accused (1989), The Silence of the Lambs (1992), Nell (1995)
Oscar wins: The Accused (1989), The Silence of the Lambs (1992)
With hits such as Silence Of the Lambs, The Accused and Panic Room on her resume, as well as two Oscars from four nominations (including her first for Taxi Driver when she was just a teenager), Jodie Foster is a force in Tinseltown. Also an acclaimed director (Money Monster, Little Man Tate), her most recent foray into television has been in that capacity. She helmed an episode of the cult series Black Mirror and also an ep of Orange Is The New Black.
8 CHARLIZE THERON
Box office total: $4.42 billion
Oscar nominations: Monster (2004), North Country (06)
Oscar wins: Monster
The Monster and Tully star’s move to television hasn’t yet been in front of the camera but behind. Theron is banking on the success of this new move to the small screen as an executive producer of two big Netflix titles — Mindhunter and Boss Girl.
9. PENELOPE CRUZ
Box office total: $2.96 billion
Oscars nominations: Volver (2007), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2009), Nine (2010)
Oscar wins: Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2009)
The Spanish star did television when she kicked off her career, but Hollywood beckoned and she transitioned smoothly to the big screen. Vanilla Sky, Volver and last year’s Murder On The Orient Express are just a few of her big hits. But she returned to her roots this year when she played Donatello Versace in The Assassination Of Gianni Versace.
10. WINONA RYDER
Box office total: $1.44 billion
Oscar nominations: The Age Of Innocence (94), Little Women (95)
Two Oscar nominations in the 90s and hits such as Reality Bites and Edward Scissorhands put Ryder on track to permanent residency in the upper echelons of Hollywood. Personal issues saw her all but disappear for a while but her return in the hit Netflix sci-fi thriller Stranger Things (pictured) has rocketed her back up there towards the top.