When I read that some actor just got $10 million for starring in his latest film, or that some ballplayer gets paid $3 million per year, how is the payment effected?
Does the ballplayer get weekly paychecks for $60,000 ?
Does the studio head hand Schwarzeneggar an actual paper check at the end of shooting and say “Thanks, Arnie”?
Can speak for actors but baseball players are paid monthly. You could receive a check but I imagine most of them have direct deposit.
In the NHL, hockey players are paid bi-weekly, but only as long as the regular season lasts. Once the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin, they’re not paid anymore and play only for Lord Stanley’s Cup. 
In baseball the players get paid twice a month too. Not sure if it’s the first and fifteenth or biweekly.
A friend of mine used to do check processing in the early 90s and came across a few of the Tigers’ paychecks. It puts it in perspective how much a few million really is. A paycheck, after taxes, for $80,000. It wasn’t even a top of the line player and this was nearly 10 years ago.
Opera singers used to be paid in cash, immediately after the performance. This was certainly the practice in the Royal Opera in London until relatively recently. I think nowadays they send a cheque in the post to the singer’s agent.
Unless you play for the Senators.
I once read a report someplace that, while Arnold (I won’t try to spell the last name) got paid X Millions for some movie he actually got a private plane worth that much instead of cash. So I’d suppose it can vary.
Here’s a recent thread about how actors are paid. Sampiro’s post is the most detailed and answers the question best.
This is a digression from the OP, but I have always wondered how the taxation issues work for professional athletes that are US citizens but play for a Canadian team and vice versa. Do they get double whacked by each country? I would think not because that would make it extremely dificult to convince a “foreign” player to sign with your team. Also, if the Toronto Blue Jays say they signed Carlos Delgado to a 5 year, 80 million dollar deal, do they pay him in Canadian dollars and just do the currency exchange?
Don’t forget that what they usually refer to as “getting paid $20 million” is actually a contract that is worth, in cash and equivalents and payments-in-kind, $20 million IF certain conditions are met. Sports contracts, for example, include incentive bonuses, insurance, and other stuff that may never happen, probably won’t happen, or better not happen.
I don’t know about actors, but I should think they’d split things up a little. Rank-and-file actors, of course, are paid SAG scale, but the big stars probably have contracts specifying means and schedule of payment.
To answer your first question, there is a tax treaty between the U.S. and Canada that ensures that you won’t be taxed by both countries on the same income, if you have to file a return in both countries. The rules are complicated, though.
Ed
In addition to Sampiro’s very good answer in the other thread, it’s also worth mentioning that, in almost all cases, the agent gets the check from the production company, and then turns around and gives the actor (or model or whatever) his pay minus the agency fee. This is probably handled differently for the very biggest movie stars, who have the power to demand the check hand-inked on a unicorn hide by left-handed Balinese orphans if they want it that way.