Game of Thrones actors are making HOW much for Seasons 7 and 8?
By Corey Smith
Television is currently in what many consider to be its golden age. One group probably not arguing with that statement: the cast of Game of Thrones. The Hollywood Reporter is has it that the five “A-tier” cast members—Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), Lena Headey (Cersei) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime)—have “banded together and recently concluded a renegotiation” that will pay each of them a whopping $1.1 million dollars per episode for Seasons 7 and 8. Wow.
(It’s harder to get a bead on what the other actors are getting paid, although we can assume that featured players like Sophie Turner (Sansa) and Maisie Williams (Arya) aren’t going hungry.)
Back in June, Deadline reported that this group of five had recently renegotiated with HBO for “major new salary bumps” for Seasons 7 and 8. Specifically, it said that the stars would earn “north of $500,000” per episode. Well, $1.1 million is certainly north. Way north. Before that, the group was reportedly earning $300,000 per episode, so this would be a huge raise.
The flip side of this is that there will only be seven episodes in Season 7, and perhaps only six in Season 8. So even though HBO may pay the stars more per episode, there will be fewer paydays than usual, and keep in mind that none of these cast members have ever appeared in every episode of a given season before.
Either way, bravo to those guys. We believe they deserve every dollar. Now Peter Dinklage can start walking like his onscreen counterpart.
Tyrion Lannister, walking like a rich person.
For reference’s sake, the three main stars of The Big Bang Theory currently make $1 million per episode. That’s also what the six stars of Friends made back during the show’s final seasons, when that money went further. Over on AMC’s The Walking Dead, stars Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln recently renegotiated their contracts so they’re making $550,000 and $650,000 respectively for seasons 6 and 8. The Game of Thrones stars are in exclusive company.