Which Game of Thrones Actor Made Most Money? Surprisingly, Not Emilia Clarke

Summary:

• The average budget per episode of Game of Thrones in the first season was estimated at $6 million, but grew to $15 million by the last season, and along with the budget grew the salaries of the main stars.
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau received the most for his participation in the show, earning $16 million.
• All five leads received $1.2 million per episode in the final season, but Nikolaj had more screen time and earned more than any of his colleagues.

Proposals to adapt A Song of Ice and Fire novels began coming to George Martin in the early 2000s, when producers were looking for other fantasy projects after the success of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. The author turned them down, questioning the directors' ability to bring his entire story to life on screen.

In 2007, HBO acquired the rights and four years later, the first season of Game of Thrones was released, which turned the television world upside down, costing $60 million to film – one of the central expenses was the creation of a realistic world of the show.

In the first seasons, the average budget for one episode was $6 million, and in the last season it increased 2.5 times – to $15 million. The salaries of the show's main actors grew along with the show's budget.

In the seventh season, the five main stars – Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington and Lena Headey – received $500 thousand per episode. By the eighth season, the figure had increased almost 2.5 times – to $1.2 million.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Made the Most Money on GoT

However, while the main actors received the same amount per episode, the frequency of their appearance on screen was different, and therefore the total amount received by the main stars during their participation in Game of Thrones was different, too.

And if you think that Emilia Clarke or Kit Harington have become the rich champions, you are very much mistaken.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau outperformed his colleagues – he earned $16 million for the total number of episodes in which he appeared.

Peter Dinklage came in second with $15 million.

Next in line were Clarke and Harington, who earned $13 million and $12 million, respectively.

Game of Thrones Was a Phenomenon Even Beyond TV

Such actor fees are not surprising – with a total show budget of $1.5 billion, Game of Thrones has earned $3.1 billion from HBO subscriptions alone. In eight years, the show has attracted more than 50 million new viewers, and in the final season alone, HBO's profit from the Game of Thrones audience is estimated at $900 million.

The show's influence has spread beyond TV – fans have even begun learning languages created specifically for the show. Courses in fictional dialects have become a source of income for tutors – one British website offered Valyrian teachers up to £40 an hour.

Sheesh, you can even take it up on Duolingo! More than 1 million people took courses to learn the language – it turned out to be more popular than Vietnamese and Norwegian.

In the fourth episode of the final season, the crew forgot to remove a Starbucks cup from the frame. The incident damaged the show's ratings, but proved beneficial for the coffee chain.

In connection with the series, it was mentioned more than 10 thousand times, and experts estimated the potential cost of such advertising at $2.3 billion.