Forbes: Kristen Stewart is Highest Paid Hollywood Actress [SLIDESHOW]

Actress Kristen Stewart is all over the news and for the right reasons. The star of the Twilight series of films has delivered another blockbuster performance, with Snow White and the Huntsman, which, according to Forbes, has made her the highest paid actress in Hollywood!

The film, which released on 19 June, has led to Stewart's earnings, between May 2011 and May 2012, touch the £22mn mark. Incidentally, she is also the youngest woman on the list. It appears Stewart demands £8mn per film, almost as much as Twilight co-stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

"She (Stewart) is an up-and-coming star. She is earning a lot of money from one of the most successful franchises of all time. This is who you would expect to see right now. This year you are seeing somebody young and at the brink of potentially great stardom sitting on the top of the list," said Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes' Los Angeles bureau chief.

The parameters considered to determine the highest paid actresses are upfront pay, profit participation, residuals, endorsements and advertising work. Forbes also talked to manager, agents, lawyers and industry insiders to come up with the estimates.

Cameron Diaz, whose film Bad Teacher was a surprise hit, came second and Academy Award winning actress Sandra Bullock third. The glamorous Angelina Jolie was fourth (she topped the list last year) and Charlize Theron, who plays the evil queen to Stewart's Snow White, in Snow White and the Huntsman, was fifth. The list is rounded out by Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, Meryl Streep, Kristen Wiig and Jennifer Aniston. Incidentally, the ten top actresses earned a total of £127mn, significantly less than the £230mn the top ten actors pocketed.

"It is nowhere near what men are making. I think it will be a while until women see salary parity, if it ever happens. Women are paid less in every industry, not just in Hollywood," Pomerantz said.

The amount the actresses earned came not only from work in Hollywood but also through endorsements, advertising deals and merchandise sales.

"Sarah Jessica Parker is almost earning more from her perfume and endorsement deals right now than from entertainment. That is true of a lot of women. They have these outside deals that are very lucrative. Angelina Jolie earns a lot from residuals, as does Sarah Jessica Parker," Pomerantz said.

Click Start to see a slideshow of the top ten highest earning actresses in Hollywood, courtesy of Forbes