--- title: Here's How Much Money the Game of Thrones Actors Really Make description: The "Game of Thrones" actors are among the highest-paid TV stars in the world, earning $500,000--or perhaps much more--per episode. authors: - name: Rob Wile url: https://money.com/author/rob-wile/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 191 covers: - Lifestyle - Business - Career Advice - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/rjwile former_staff: true published: '2017-08-23T19:27:54.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T06:39:23.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - game of thrones - Hollywood - rich - Wealth word_count: 370 canonical: https://money.com/heres-how-much-money-the-game-of-thrones-actors-really-make/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![170823-game-of-thrones-character-salaries](https://img.money.com/2017/08/170823-game-of-thrones-character-salaries.jpg) *Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) in HBO's "Game of Thrones."* [*Variety*](http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/tv-star-salaries-revealed-2017-robert-de-niro-david-letterman-ellen-degeneres-1202534375/) has released its list of the highest-paid TV actors of the past year, and coming in tied for third in the drama category are the stars of the phenomenally popular HBO show *Game of Thrones*. Despite their comparatively unknown status outside of the show — which *Time* just declared [the most popular in the world](https://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/) — the top *Game of Thrones* actors are earning impressive sums. Here are the five stars of the show that each make $500,000 per episode: - Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) - Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) - Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) - Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) - Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister) In terms of actors in drama TV series, only Robert De Niro ($775,000 per episode for a still-untitled Amazon project) and Mark Harmon ($525,000 for *NCIS*) earned more than the *GoT* stars, according to *Variety*. Meanwhile, Kevin Spacey, star of the Netflix show *House of Cards*, has been matching the *Game of Thrones* troupe by taking home $500,000 per episode. "The new business models that govern streaming services have \[had\] the effect of raising upfront payments to top talent because traditional forms of generating a profit from a hit series — through international sales and off-network syndication — are no longer an option," *Variety's* Cynthia Littleton writes. In fact, *Variety's* numbers only cover last year, and the *Game of Thrones* actors are reportedly now making significantly more than the figures cited. A recent report from [London's *Express*](http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/795123/Game-of-Thrones-stars-to-be-paid-millions) said that each member of the quintet is making roughly $2.5 million per episode this season (which contains five episodes), and they will earn the same amount in next year's eighth and final season. These kinds of salaries surpass those of the '90s sitcom heyday, when stars routinely had contracts that paid them [more than $1 million](http://www.eonline.com/news/838223/highest-paid-tv-casts-of-all-time-by-the-numbers) per episode. They are also higher than the actors on today's TV's top-rated comedies, who tend to earn more than their counterparts in drama. [*Variety*](http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/tv-star-salaries-revealed-2017-robert-de-niro-david-letterman-ellen-degeneres-1202534375/) reports that the stars of CBS's *The Big Bang Theory* pull in $900,000 per episode, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the [highest-paid actor overall in 2016](https://money.com/highest-paid-actor-mark-wahlberg-dwayne-rock-johnson/), makes $650,000 for his role in each episode of the HBO comedy *Ballers*. 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