Dwayne Johnson 'The Rock' Tops Forbes List Of Best Paid Actors

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been named the world's highest paid actor by Forbes, raking in $64.5m (£49m).

The 44-year-old former wrestler more than doubled his earnings from last year thanks to his role in the action comedy Central Intelligence, the eighth instalment of the Fast & Furious racing franchise and the forthcoming Baywatch.

Johnson was ranked number 11 last year, earning some $31m in the 12 months from June 2014 to June 2015.

He snatched the title held for three consecutive years by Robert Downey Jr.

Johnson, who stars in the HBO series Ballers, expressed his delight at his new title.

He tweeted: "Want to say two things about this. I started w/$7 bucks. If I can overcome, so can you. Waffle House on me!!"

Jackie Chan came in second on the list ($61m) followed by Matt Damon ($55m), Tom Cruise ($53m) and Johnny Depp ($48m).

The world's 10 highest-paid actors made a combined $456.5m, according to Forbes, compared to the $205m earned by the top 10 actresses.

Topping the Forbes list released earlier this week for highest-paid actresses was Jennifer Lawrence, who earned $46m (£35m) - nearly $20m less than her male counterpart.

The disparity is expected to reignite the row in Hollywood about the industry's gender pay gap.

Lawrence wrote a blunt essay on the issue last year after a leak of stolen emails from Sony Pictures showed she was paid less than her male co-stars in the movie American Hustle.