Will Smith may not be taking home an Oscar for his work this year, but Forbes still thinks he’s pretty damn important. In fact, Smith ranked first in their list of Star Currency, which measures the value of particular actors given the current economic condition.
Who needs a little gold statue when you have Forbes on your side? Of 1400 actors, Will Smith was the only one to receive a “perfect 10,” edging out
Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt,
Johnny Depp, and Tom Hanks. Those four were in the top 20, but apparently no one can touch Will’s importance on the money scale.
Here’s how Forbes came up with their ranking system:
The Forbes Star Currency survey was sent to entertainment industry members globally asking them to use a provided scale in ranking 1,400-plus actors as individuals on a range of attributes regarding their participation in a film, including the actor's ability to attract significant financing to a project with their involvement; if their presence guarantees theatrical distribution; if they significantly drive theatrical box office performance; and if their involvement is an essential component in securing rights deals for revenue streams including DVD, pay/free TV, etc.
Smith’s producing parter Rick Alvarez, agrees with Forbes, and basically says that it’s simple math as to why he’s so successful. He says, "Will Smith is unique in that he is one of a very few people who is a draw purely on name alone. It almost doesn't matter what genre. The name alone creates a confidence with the audience that they're going to get something that's entertaining whether it's action, comedy, drama."
For the full list of Hollywood’s most valuable actors, click
here. Do you agree with Forbes’ ranking system?
