'Harry Potter' star is decade's most profitable actress

By Phil Han, CNN

Emma Watson has been crowned the most profitable actress of the decade, earning $5.4 billion for her films.

London, England (CNN) -- It wasn't Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie or even Meryl Streep that was named the most profitable actress of the decade -- instead, 19-year-old British actress Emma Watson took the title.

Films that the young actress has appeared in have made more money than those of any other Hollywood starlet, despite her being in only the "Harry Potter" series and voicing a character in an animated film.

Over the course of the decade, films that Watson was involved in made $5.4 billion worldwide and these boasted the highest average box office earnings, making roughly $900 million per film.

More notable actresses like Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet were beaten in the list conducted by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Watson got her start at the age of ten, playing a young wizard in the first "Harry Potter" film back in 2001.

Since then, she has starred in five subsequent Potter movies and voiced the character of a young princess in the animated film, "The Tale of Despereaux."

Ali Jaafar, International Editor at Variety Magazine said it was notable that Watson was a big grosser, but it would be interesting to see how her career progressed.

"She's untested apart from the Harry Potter franchise, but these are young actors and it'll be interesting to see how they develop their careers," Jaafar told CNN.

"It's always hard for child actors to develop."

Orlando Bloom was named the highest grossing actor of the decade, taking in more than $7 billion for his role in movies like "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean."

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