- “Game of Thrones” actors such as Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke were making $500,000 an episode, while others, such as Sophie Turner, were paid $175,000 an episode, according to a 2017 Variety report.
- Turner told Harper’s Bazaar that equal pay on the show is a “bit tricky,” and that she’s fine with her costars getting paid more.
- How do the “Game of Thrones” salaries stack up against those of some of the highest-paid actors on television?
The final season of “Game of Thrones” debuted on Sunday, and the actors got big raises ahead of it.
But how much are they making?
The cast members Kit Harington (who plays Jon Snow), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) were making $500,000 an episode in 2017, according to Variety.
However, Coster-Waldau (and likely the other four main stars) could be making even more than that. 2018 legal documents in a court battle betwen Coster-Waldau and his former manager, Jill Littman, revealed that he would be making $1.07 million per episode “for at least 6 episodes” of the final season.
Other cast members didn't have contracts that were as lucrative.
Stars Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark) were making $175,000 an episode in 2017, according to Variety.
Turner acknowledged the pay gap in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, saying equal pay on the series is "a little tricky."
"Kit got more money than me, but he had a bigger storyline," Turner said. "And for the last series, he had something crazy like 70 night shoots, and I didn't have that many. I was like, 'You know what ... you keep that money.'"
But there are other TV stars who make more than even the highest-paid "Game of Thrones" actors do.
Norman Reedus is making $1 million an episode for "The Walking Dead" after his costar Andrew Lincoln departed the show, according to Variety. And the stars of HBO's "Westworld" are getting big raises ahead of the sci-fi drama's third season, The Hollywood Reporter reported in October.
And Jim Parsons of CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" made headlines last summer for walking away from a reported two-year $50 million paycheck for two more seasons of the sitcom, which CBS subsequently decided to end this year.
Below are some of TV's highest-paid actors and how much they make per episode:
$1 million – Norman Reedus, "The Walking Dead" (AMC)
Source: Variety (2018)
$1 million — Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu)
Source: Variety (2018)
$1 million — Nicole Kidman, "Big Little Lies" (HBO)
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$1 million — Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
Source: Variety (2016)
$650,000 – Dwayne Johnson, "Ballers" (HBO)
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
$600,000 — Julia Roberts, "Homecoming" (Amazon)
Source: Variety (2018)
$575,000 — Ellen Pompeo, "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$500,000 — Sean Penn, "The First" (Hulu)
Source: Variety (2018)
$500,000 — Kit Harington, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Variety (2017)
$500,000 — Emilia Clarke, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Variety (2017)
$500,000 — Lena Headey, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Variety (2017)
$500,000 — Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Variety (2017)
$500,000 — Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Variety (2017)
$375,000 — John Goodman, "The Conners" (ABC)
Source: Variety (2018)
$350,000 — Millie Bobby Brown, "Stranger Things" (Netflix)
Source: Variety (2018)
$250,000 — Sterling K. Brown, "This Is Us" (NBC)
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$250,000 — Evan Rachel Wood, "Westworld" (HBO)
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$175,000 — Sophie Turner, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Indiewire (2019)
$175,000 — Maisie Williams, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Indiewire (2019)
$175,000 — Isaac Hempstead Wright, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Source: Indiewire (2019)
