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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The five stars most often grouped together at the top of Game of Thrones salary reports—Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau—were estimated to earn about $500,000 per episode in Season 7 and about $1.2 million per episode in Season 8. These were press estimates, not confirmed contract figures or proof of what the actors took home.
Reported pay for the five top-billed stars
Entertainment-industry reports commonly grouped Clarke, Harington, Dinklage, Headey and Coster-Waldau together when citing the series’ highest per-episode rates. The amounts reported for the final two seasons were:
| Season | Actors covered | Reported estimate per episode | Basis and qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 7 (2017) | Clarke, Harington, Dinklage, Headey and Coster-Waldau | About $500,000 each | Variety estimate, relayed by Marie Claire and ELLE Australia. |
| Season 8 (2019) | The same five actors | About $1.2 million each | The Hollywood Reporter estimate, summarized by Harper’s Bazaar. |
The figures are best described as reported estimates. The sources do not provide private contracts, HBO payroll records or an independently verified accounting of each actor’s compensation. Marie Claire also notes that television salary surveys can sometimes include producer compensation or profit participation, although its account says these five were not listed as producers.
Supporting actors had different reported rates
Reports did not establish a single rate for the full cast. Harper’s Bazaar reported a Season 8 estimate of $175,000 per episode for Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner and Isaac Hempstead Wright, attributing it to a source cited by the Daily Mail and also noting similar reporting by IndieWire. That figure is less directly sourced than the top-tier estimates. Earlier coverage placed Turner and Williams in a broad range of roughly $100,000 to $200,000 per episode; that, too, was an estimate rather than a verified rate.
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Why per-episode pay is not a season total
A per-episode estimate does not show how much an actor earned over a season. Performers did not necessarily appear in every episode, and ELLE Australia’s 2017 calculation of then-current totals for the first six aired Season 7 episodes illustrates how appearance counts affect the arithmetic. The reported figures also do not establish rates for every season of the show, total career earnings from the series, or take-home pay after taxes, representation fees and other costs.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sophie Turner’s explanation of the pay gap
In a 2019 account, TIME reported Turner’s explanation that Harington earned more because his character had a larger storyline and he worked substantially more night shoots. Turner said: “Kit got more money than me, but he had a bigger storyline,” she said. “And for the last series, he had something crazy like 70 night shoots, and I didn’t have that many. I was like, ‘You know what…you keep that money.’” The statement describes Turner’s perspective on her experience; it is not a full disclosure of either actor’s compensation. TIME writer Cady Lang reported it on April 1, 2019, attributing the interview to Harper’s Bazaar UK. TIME’s report.
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What the available reports can—and cannot—show
- The commonly reported top-tier estimate rose from about $500,000 per episode in Season 7 to about $1.2 million in Season 8.
- Those estimates apply to five named stars, not every performer in the cast.
- Supporting-cast estimates were lower in the reports cited here and are not as firmly sourced.
- No official HBO payroll disclosure or independently verified contract amount establishes precise actor-by-actor pay across all eight seasons.
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