Actor Nicky Wu (吳奇隆) has yet again been crowned the champion of Taiwan’s top-earning drama actors, with an estimated yearly income of 500 million NTD. Thanks to a surge in popularity after appearing as Fourth Prince in the time-traveling drama Bu Bu Jing Xin <步步驚心>, Nicky is now in extremely high demand when it comes to mainland Chinese television productions, with a rumored per-episode cost of 3.85 million NTD. Though his manager would not divulge his income, it is estimated that Nicky netted 360 million NTD from filming upcoming dramas Bu Bu Jing Qing <步步驚情 > and Incisive Great Teacher <犀利仁師>. He also pocketed an additional 140 million NTD by advertising for Samsung and serving as a sightseeing ambassador for Australia and New Zealand. This is the third year in a row that Nicky has topped the list of Taiwan’s highest-earning drama actors, and his income has nearly doubled since last year, when he brought in 270 million NTD. The year before, he earned 171 million NTD. Actress Ruby Lin (林心如) came in second on the list, with a yearly income of 278 million NTD. Although her per-episode cost is approximately 2.4 million NTD, she is reportedly extremely selective about which projects she takes on, and filmed only one drama and movie apiece this past year, apart from two cameo appearances. According to her manager, Ruby also spent a lot of time this year doing pre-production work for future dramas. In third place is Wallace Huo (霍建華), who filmed a total of five dramas this year, including the heavily criticized but widely watched Swordman <笑傲江湖>. He will also have a guest appearance in Nicky’s Incisive Great Teacher. Wallace’s yearly income amounts to 200 million NTD, and he is estimated to bring in 1.44 million NTD per drama episode. Rounding up the list is Ady An (安以軒) with 194 million NTD and Peter Ho (何潤東) with 168 million NTD. After an uneventful turn in 2012, Ady is back on the scene with two mainland Chinese dramas, one Taiwanese idol drama, a movie, and a guest appearance in the upcoming Chinese Paladin 5 <仙劍奇俠傳>. Peter is equally busy, having filmed three movies, a mini-movie, and two television dramas, including the well-received Shining Days <璀璨人生 >. Creds: Southcn
