Which TV stars’ salaries outshine those of the ‘Game of Thrones’ cast?
- Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke of HBO’s fantasy drama both had pay rises ahead of the final series ... but who gets more?
The eighth and final season of the American HBO fantasy drama television series, Game of Thrones, begins on April 14 – and the cast all received big pay rises.
Leading actors and actresses, such as 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 all earning US$500,000 per episode in 2017, Variety reported.
Their co-stars Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark) were all making US$175,000 per episode at the time.
Turner has commented on the pay gap between cast members in an interview, saying equal pay on the series was “a little tricky”.
She said: “Kit got more money than me, but he had a bigger storyline.
“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’.”
However, there are other television drama stars who earn much more than the highest-paid Game of Thrones actors and actresses.
Norman Reedus is said to be making US$1 million per episode for AMC’s The Walking Dead since his co-star, Andrew Lincoln, left the show.
The stars of HBO's Westworld are all getting big pay rises, too, ahead of the sci-fi drama's third season, according to reports.