Kristen Stewart & Angelina Jolie Tops our List of highest-paid Hollywood actress

Kristen Stewart is a rich, rich lady.

She may be only 22, but the "Twilight" star took in more money than any other Hollywood actress over the May 2011-May 2012 earning period, according to a new Forbes list published today. The star's $34.5 million in gross earnings can be accounted for by the $12.5 million paychecks she received for each of the last two "Twilight" films (not to mention a cut of their substantial box-office profits), in addition to her salary for this summer's franchise-starter "Snow White and the Huntsman."

Coming in a close second was Cameron Diaz, who earned $34 million over the same period thanks to profit participation in last year's hit summer comedy "Bad Teacher," which grossed more than $200 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. Oh yeah, they paid her to actually star in the movie too. Add that to the blood money she received for "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and you've got yourself a pretty good chunk of change.

Studios are notoriously stingy when it comes to paying young actors for the first film in a planned franchise. Forget about the $10 million they would have had to shell out to get a big name — an up-and-comer is lucky to get $800,000.

That changes dramatically when it comes to the third and fourth films in a series. Suddenly, the star becomes indispensable and the studio has to pay up. That’s why Kristen Stewart has vaulted to the top of our annual list of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood.

In the number three spot is 2009 golden girl Sandra Bullock, who's still raking in the dough thanks to residuals from "The Blind Side," for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress, and her salaries on last year's "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and the upcoming Alfonso Cuaron sci-fi flick "Gravity" opposite George Clooney. The grand total for the enduring box-office draw? A cool $25 million.

As for the poor impoverished individuals further down the list (good lord, what will Jennifer Aniston do with only $11 million?), they've been ranked by the mag as follows:

4) Angelina Jolie: $20 million

5) Charlize Theron: $18 million

6) Julia Roberts: $16 million

7) Sarah Jessica Parker: $15 million

8) Meryl Streep: $12 million

9) Kristen Wiig: $12 million

10) Jennifer Aniston: $11 million

Yeah, I pretty much hate them all too.