Natalie Portman named Hollywood's most profitable star

Natalie Portman. File photo / supplied

Natalie Portman has been voted Hollywood's most profitable star.

The 31-year-old Black Swan actress - whose dark ballet movie earned US$329 million at the box office worldwide after being made for an estimated US$13 million - has topped a new list of Hollywood's Best Actors For The Buck compiled by Forbes magazine, with Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 star Kristen Stewart coming in a close second.

The star's movies rake in US$42.70 for every dollar she is paid. Other hits movies which helped Natalie - who took much of last year off after the birth of her first son in June, 2011 - secure her position as the best investment in the movie business included No Strings Attached in which she starred alongside Ashton Kutcher, which made US$150 million after being produced for just US$25 million.

Kristen Stewart - who also topped the magazine's Highest Earning Actress list - came in second place, returning an average of US$40.60 to movie studios for every US$1 she gets paid.

The 22-year-old brunette beauty was paid US$25 million to star in the final two Twilight Saga movies, the first of which grossed over US$300 million and the second of which is still in theatres.

Her British boyfriend Robert Pattinson - with whom she reunited with in August following her brief fling with her Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, a movie which grossed US$400m - also made the list, and came in fourth place after Transformers star Shia LaBeouf for returning US$31.70 for every dollar he is paid.

Their co-star Taylor Lautner, also made the list in sixth place after Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliff, bringing in an average return of US$29.50.

Forbes uses data on actors' earnings gathered for their Celebrity 100 list and Box office grosses and budget estimates for their last three films they stared in over the last three years that opened in more than 2,000 theatres, calculating the return on investment for the studios who pay his (or her) salary. They don't count movies where the actor was in a supporting or large ensemble role or animated movies.

Eddie Murphy was recently named Hollywood's most over-paid actor alongside Katherine Heigl and Reese Witherspoon.