Jennifer Lawrence earned a truckload of cash this year

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has been named the world's highest-paid actress for the second year running, with estimated pre-tax earnings of US$46 million ($AU$60 million).

The 26-year-old star raked in the most dosh from a profit share in the final Hunger Games movie, which grossed US$650 million (AU$853 million), according to Forbes Magazine.

An upfront fee for the forthcoming space thriller Passengers also helped her push her pay day above second-ranked Melissa McCarthy, who pocketed US$33 million (AU$43 million).

The world's 10 highest-paid actresses made a combined US$205 million (AU$269 million) in the 12 months from June 1, 2015 before fees and taxes, said Forbes.

Meanwhile, we're standing by for the Forbes list of highest-paid actors, which drops on Friday, to see whether Jen's efforts to close the gender pay gap have worked.

Jen sparked debate about Hollywood wages when leaked emails from Sony Pictures revealed that she was being paid far less than her male American Hustle co-stars.

“When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d*cks, I didn’t get mad at Sony,” she wrote in friend Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter newsletter.

“I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need.”

“I’m over trying to find the ‘adorable’ way to state my opinion and still be likable,” she wrote. “F*ck that.”

Patricia Arquette also railed against the industry's gender-based wage gap during her acceptance speech after winning a statuette at last year's Academy Awards.

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Meanwhile, Jen, who took the Best Actress Oscar for the 2012 comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook, is down from US$52 million (AU$68 million) in last year's list, although she is still considered Hollywood's hottest property by some distance.

Melissa McCarthy, 45, earned US$10 million more than the 2015 estimate thanks to a reported eight-figure payday for Ghostbusters.

Perennial A-list darling Scarlett Johansson came in third with US$25 million (AU$33 million), while Jennifer Aniston, who makes most of her cash through endorsements, bagged US$21 million (AU$27.5 million).

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, a relative unknown in Hollywood, rounded out the top five, making the list for the second consecutive year with US$17 million (AU$22 million).

While India's Deepika Padukone - who made US$10 million - was the only other actress from outside Hollywood to feature in the rankings.

The 30-year-old, who came 10th, earns far less than her Tinseltown counterparts for her Bollywood roles, but compensates with more than a dozen lucrative endorsements, Forbes said.

Four women, up from three in 2015, banked more than US$20 million compared with 18 of the world's leading men.

Hey, baby steps we guess.

Story by Bang Showbiz, edited by Yahoo7 Be.

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