HBOWorking on HBO’s hit fantasy show Game of Thrones must be quite stressful for actors, what with the looming threat of death every season, thankfully though it seems that they’re well paid for their terror.
Thanks to Variety we now know exactly how much those lucky actors who’ve so far survived the deadly game get paid each episode and it’s probably enough to make the Iron Bank of Bravos jealous.
Lead actors Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Kit Harrington (Jon Snow), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) all get $500,000 (£392,927) per episode.
That means last season they each got paid a whopping $5 million (Just under £4 million) which when we factor in that the actors have been doing this for the last six years and well you get the picture.
No wonder they kill off main characters all the bloody time, it’s the only way they can afford to keep making the show!
The stars may be wealthy but even there combined wealth couldn’t help pay of the Iron Throne’s debts, you see after Robert died he left the Seven Kingdom’s 6 million golden dragons in debt.
Now if we value a single gold dragon at the same price as a gold coin now, roughly $50, then we can work out that Robert left the kingdom with a debt of $300 million.
If all the actors pitched in their entire earnings they’d have around about $150 million, just half of what Robert managed to spend while on the throne, with Littlefinger’s help.
HBO could have helped however, the budget for Thrones across its entire run is estimated to be around $360 million so they could pay off the debts with change to spare.
That said we’ve not included tax in any of our maths, we’re not magicians with money like Littlefinger, so take all this with some bread and salt.
No wonder Tyrion hated being the Master of Coin…
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.