11 Movie Actors Who Were Paid The Biggest Salary Per Words

11. Tom Cruise - $20,194 Per Word For Mission: Impossible II

For his work on the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise has made an insane amount of money.

Across the six films to date, Cruise has tended to have a standard upfront fee of somewhere between $12 million - $30 million, yet additional fees and box office percentages have seen the actor make nearly $300 million combined across those six pictures.

One of the most financially beneficial of the Mission: Impossible films for Cruise was 2000's Mission: Impossible II. By the time the dust settled, the actor is believed to have pocketed an eye-watering $75 million from that sequel.

In a film that had Cruise speak a grand total of 3,714 words, that breaks down to a hearty $20,194 per word for the franchise star's second outing as Ethan Hunt.

With the hefty box office hauls that the Mission: Impossible franchise brings in, it makes absolute sense for Paramount to already be at work on a seventh and eighth installment in the series. Likewise, with such major paydays - largely made up from back-end earnings - it's easy to see why Tom Cruise is always happy to get back in the Ethan Hunt saddle.