New mum Nicole Kidman topped the list of highest earning actresses in 2006, but has to make do with the No.4 spot these days. Ms Kidman only really started to show how very talented and versatile she is as an actor after her marriage to Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise ended in 2001, and has enjoyed a meteoric career rise over the past seven years. Her portrayal of novelist Virginia Wolf in The Hours won her an Oscar and sealed her A-list status. Look out for her and X-Men star Hugh Jackman in the 2009 movie Australia - an epic movie focusing on Nicole's homeland in the '30s, directed by Baz Luhrmann.