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Reported pay by season and cast tier
| Season or period | Actors covered | Reported estimate | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 7 (2017) | Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau | About $500,000 per episode | Variety salary-survey estimate, reported by Marie Claire and ELLE Australia. |
| Season 8 (2019) | The same five leads | About $1.2 million per episode | An estimate attributed to The Hollywood Reporter and summarized by Harper’s Bazaar. |
| Final season | Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner and Isaac Hempstead Wright | $175,000 per episode | A less firmly sourced estimate reported by Harper’s Bazaar, citing a source reported by the Daily Mail and also covered by IndieWire. |
| Earlier coverage | Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams | Roughly $100,000–$200,000 per episode | A broad reported range cited by ELLE Australia, not a verified rate. |
What the estimates do—and do not—tell us
The figures describe reported per-episode rates, not guaranteed full-season totals. Actors did not necessarily appear in every episode, and one contemporary account calculated episode-based totals according to appearances. The number of episodes in which a performer worked therefore matters when interpreting a season’s pay.
The 2017 figure came from a Variety salary survey. Marie Claire noted that some television salary estimates can include producer compensation or profit participation, while saying the Game of Thrones actors in this group were not listed as producers. That context still does not turn the estimate into a confirmed contractual salary.
The Season 8 amount was reported as an estimate attributed to The Hollywood Reporter. A higher figure repeated elsewhere has been described as potentially including syndication or rerun bonuses; it should not be treated as the base per-episode rate.
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Why did Kit Harington reportedly earn more than Sophie Turner?
Sophie Turner said Harington earned more, and explained the difference in terms of his storyline and work schedule. As reported by TIME writer Cady Lang on April 1, 2019, 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.’” Turner was describing her own understanding of the difference; the comment is not a full disclosure of either actor’s compensation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Were the actors’ exact salaries ever confirmed?
The cited coverage reports estimates rather than HBO payroll records or independently verified contract amounts. It does not establish precise actor-by-actor pay across all eight seasons, net earnings after taxes and fees, or total career compensation from the series. The clearest supported answer is therefore a season-specific reported estimate for the best-known salary tier, with less certain figures for some supporting performers.
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