Game of Thrones Star Earned a Whopping $69,000 Per Minute (and No, It's Wasn't Emilia Clarke)

Summary

• There was no single lead character.
• The 5 biggest earners were paid $1.2 million per episode.
• For one actor, that was $69k per minute.

At its peak, Game of Thrones was one of the most popular shows in TV history. Even viewers who didn't normally watch fantasy were captivated by the intrigue, machinations, and excitement that unfolded on their screens every Sunday night.

It was so popular that it grossed more than $3 billion in its 8 seasons. And it seems right that the actors who brought our favorite (and most hated) characters to life deserve a fair share of that.

No real main character meant no real main earner

It's almost impossible to figure out who the main character in Game of Thrones was. The story was so complex that there were many characters that the story couldn't have done without.

In all fairness, many of those who didn't make it to the end of the show were key to the plot. Often the most important character in a show is the one played by the person who makes the most money off of it. But even that doesn't quite work for GoT.

However, by Season 8, there were several actors earning $1.2 million per episode. It probably won't surprise you to learn that they were Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harrington and Lena Headey.

Lena Headey only appeared on screen for 25 minutes in season 8

We won't dwell on the actual finale of Season 8, but suffice it to say that most of the build-up to it centered on the various parties making their way to King's Landing for the ultimate showdown.

Daenerys Targaryen descended into madness, while Tyrion Lannister tried to put at least a modicum of reason into their planned attack. Jon Snow looked more and more like the hero who would swoop in and save the day. And, of course, Jaime turned over a new leaf, only to finally have the opposite of a Road to Damascus moment and return to the loving arms of his incestuous lover.

Which brings us to Cersei. While her position was hardly secure, at least she was holed up in King's Landing for most of the series. That meant she needed limited screen time. After all, we pretty much knew everything we needed to know about her anyway.

With so little screen time over the course of the season, Headey's $1.2 million comes out to a staggering $69,000 per minute. Not bad money if you can get it.

How much did the Starks earn?

Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams (who played the Stark sisters) ended up earning $253,000 per episode. This may seem paltry compared to what some of the other actors were paid, considering how central they were to the story.

But when you take into account the experience of those other actors and how their characters drove the plot, you'd have to say they were worth every dime. Without taking anything away from either actor, you get the feeling that both Sansa and Arya could have been played by any number of actresses.

But could anyone have brought more to the role of Cersei than Lena Headey? Unlikely. The same could be said for both Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Kit Harrington may not have brought the same intensity to their roles as Headey, but they certainly displayed the necessary screen presence.

Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran) was in a similar pay grade to his onscreen sisters. But spare a thought for poor old Sean Bean. Appearing in only 9 episodes in Season 1, the Sheffield-born actor earned a mere $120,000 per episode.