Things are getting mighty expensive in Westeros this season.
With HBO's Game of Thrones stepping up their production value from £4.6 million to £7.7 million per episode for its final two seasons, it’s no surprise that its actors are getting in on the action. According to Express, leading Game of Thrones cast salaries could now be £2 million per episode – making them the highest paid actors in television history.
Reportedly, the stars of the fantasy epic employed renegotiation tactics for Game of Thrones season 7 and 8, similar to when the cast of Friends famously teamed up to secure a pay rise of USD$1 million per episode. However, not everybody will be making £2 million as the Game of Thrones cast is split into separate financial tiers, with Tier A actors being paid the highest level. Actors such as Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey comprise this tier, while the lesser-paid Tier B includes Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner. We also highly doubt that the show's newest Ed Sheeran guest cameo will earn the singer-songwriter anything in the same ballpark.
The pay raise is a massive bump up from its sixth season, where its actors earned £230,000 per episode. Included in their jaw-dropping contracts are clauses that include syndication benefits, meaning that the actors gets a cut when the episodes are aired in over 170 countries as well as future reruns. It’s also worth noting that as always with Game of Thrones characters, not everyone is guaranteed to survive the whole season which would affect how much each actor gets paid overall. (Come on Jon Snow, we’re rooting for you.)
