What is the net worth and salary of Simon Baker?
Simon Baker is an Australian actor who has a net worth of $40 million. Baker is known for his starring roles in TV series such as ‘The Mentalist’ and ‘The Guardian’. Outside of his acting career, Baker is also an accomplished director who has a number of additional production credits. Simon branched out into film throughout his career, with a number of notable leading roles in Hollywood blockbusters.
Youth
Simon Lucas Baker was born on 30 July 1969 in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. He grew up in the coastal town of Ballina, which is in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. While growing up, Simon earned the nickname “Smiley”.
Career
Simon Baker began his acting career in the world of television with roles in series such as ‘E Street’, ‘Home and Away’ and ‘Heartbreak High’. This was in the early to mid 90s, when Baker was in his early to mid 20s. While these roles certainly helped put Simon on the map, they weren’t widely seen by international audiences. Baker wanted a challenge rather than appearing in Australian soap operas for the rest of his life, so he moved to Los Angeles in search of bigger roles.
In 1997, his first major breakthrough came when he won the role of Matt Reynolds in the neo-noir film LA Confidential. He played the relatively minor role of a gay actor who was set up and killed. The film received strong reviews and won two Academy Awards after being nominated for nine. It also performed well at the box office, grossing $126 million.
Baker moved on to bigger and better roles, but first had to pay her dues with a series of smaller appearances in a number of independent films and feature films. In 1998, he appeared in Love from Ground Zero. The next year, he joined the cast of “Ride with the Devil” and after appearing in a television movie, “Sunset Strip” followed. In the year 2000, he played the role of Chip Pettengill in the ill-fated sci-fi film Red Planet. The film only grossed $33.5 million on an $80 million budget and received overwhelmingly negative reviews.
In 2001, Simon Baker first took on the role of Nick Fallin in The Guardian. This would prove to be one of his most prominent television roles and help him become more established on the international stage. He appeared as one of the series’ main cast for 67 episodes until 2004.
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Baker would go on to achieve more famous roles in films such as “The Affair of the Necklace”, “Book of Love” and “The Ring Two”. The latter was a remake of the famous Japanese horror film “The Ring”, and it became one of Simon’s most famous film roles. Land of the Dead was another big film for Baker as he played the lead role of Riley Denbo and gained widespread recognition as a result. His next was the movie “Something New”.
In 2006, Simon landed a lead role in The Devil Wears Prada, which grossed $327.9 million and received rave reviews from critics. This also served to significantly advance Baker’s film career. Over the next few years, Baker appeared in films such as Sex and Death 101, The Key to Reserva, The Lodger, Not Forgotten and Women in Trouble.
Also in 2006, Baker booked a recurring role on “Smith”, which appeared in seven episodes. Perhaps the biggest role of his career would come when Simon began playing the role of Patrick Jane on “The Mentalist” in 2008. He would continue to play the role until 2015, appearing in a total of 151 episodes. Most critics gave “The Mentalist” positive reviews.
During his time on ‘The Mentalist’, Simon also had time to appear in various films such as ‘The Killer Inside Me’, ‘Margin Call’ and ‘I Give It a Year’. In 2017, he co-wrote, co-produced and starred in Breath, which was a film adaptation of a novel. In 2018, he starred in the film Here and Now, and in 2020 he followed up with High Ground, also earning an executive producer credit on the latter film.
Brand support
Baker has appeared in advertisements for Samsung, NZ Bank, Longines and Givenchy.
Relations
In 1998, Baker married Rebecca Rigg, an Australian actress. During their relationship, they had three children.
Simon Baker salary
Simon Baker has certainly earned his fair share of money from ‘The Mentalist’. In 2010, Simon Baker signed a contract that guaranteed him a producer credit and a larger share of back-end syndication profits. In 2013, Baker earned $350,000 for each episode of “The Mentalist.” That worked out to about $8.5 million per season.
immobility
In 2015, it was revealed that Simon Baker spent $6.5 million on a new property in Bondi Beach, Australia. Previously, Baker and his wife Rebecca Rigg owned a terrace in Paddington, which was sold in 2007 for $3.3 million. The pair then snapped up a previous Bondi home for $2.63 million in 2014. This smaller home obviously wasn’t luxurious for Baker and Rigg, as they upgraded to the aforementioned $6.5 million property . above just a year later.
In 2016, Simon sold this useless Sydney penthouse for $3.5 million Australian dollars. The 1,450 square foot residence sold extremely quickly after being listed on the market. In addition, the couple owns another home in Nashua, Australia worth $1.5 million. Baker also owns one property in Santa Monica, namely a 4,755-square-foot residence listed in 2007 for $4.65 million.
