Once a land of network sitcoms and variety shows, television has transformed into a legitimate dramatic medium. Within the last couple of decades, cable and streaming programming has risen to cinematic levels of quality. More and more viewers are making TV their number one source of media consumption, and they’re doing so in droves. It should come as no surprise then, that television stars are benefiting from this popularity. Lead actors are making serious bank from the small screen, and it’s the type of cash we haven’t seen from that world in a long time.
The Hollywood Reporter recently published an article outlining some of the industries biggest earners, and there are some surprising entries. Of course, there are the usual suspects like the Game of Thrones cast, and “richest man in Hollywood” Dwayne Johnson – but who would’ve considered, Jonah Hill, who has an upcoming Netflix show in the works?
For a more extensive list of the highest paid actors in television, stay with us after the jump.
Dwayne Johnson – $450,000 per episode for Ballers
Robert De Niro – $750,000 per episode for new untitled Amazon show
Kiefer Sutherland – $300,000 per episode for Designated Survivor
Norman Reedus – $650,000 per episode for The Walking Dead
Andrew Lincoln – $650,000 per episode for The Walking Dead
Kit Harington – $1.1 million for Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage – $1.1 million for Game of Thrones
Emilia Clarke – $1.1 million for Game of Thrones
Lena Headey – $1.1 million for Game of Thrones
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau – $1.1 million for Game of Thrones
Chris Rock – $20 million for two Netflix specials
Jonah Hill – $350,000 per episode for Maniac
Emma Stone – $350,000 per episode for Maniac
Meryl Streep – $825,000 per episode for The Nix
Jim Parsons – $1 million per episode for The Big Bang Theory
Johnny Galecki – $1 million per episode for The Big Bang Theory
Kaley Cuoco – $1 million per episode for The Big Bang Theory
