Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Jon (Kit Harington) are arguably the anchors of Game of Thrones. (They’ll also probably hook up in the next episode, but that’s another story.) Both characters receive roughly the same amount of screen time and are integral components to the plot. They’re equals.
So it only makes sense they should be paid the same amount per episode on the show, but Hollywood tends to drop the ball in this area. Several actresses have come forward in recent years about Hollywood’s gender pay gap. Truthfully, this happens across all fields — not just show business — and it’s beyond infuriating. It seems every day a different actress reveals she made a fraction of what her male co-star took home for doing essentially the same job. Natalie Portman, Taraji P. Henson, and Jennifer Lawrence have all opened up about pay inequality. And unfortunately, there will be more.
But (thankfully) Emilia won’t be one of them — not for Game of Thrones, at least. Variety recently revealed what five of the actors on GoT rake in per episode, and it turns out HBO is doing right by its female leads. Emilia and Lena Headey each make R6.6 million per episode, which matches Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s salaries down to the cent. Everyone on that show is getting paid equally — and handsomely, might we add.
They’re not the only ones either. After a highly publicised negotiation, Emmy Rossum and William H. Macy now have the same per-episode rate for Shameless: R4.6 million. Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Milo Ventimiglia all bring home the same paycheck each week for This Is Us: R1.1 million. Comparatively, Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley each make just over R528 000, which makes sense given they weren’t as well known as the others when the show began. And Kaley Cuoco makes what her male costars do per episode on The Big Bang Theory: a whopping R11.8 million.
This should be the norm. Everyone has the right to be fairly compensated for their work. We’re happy Hollywood is finally realising that — hopefully the world will follow suit.
