- How do the "Big Bang Theory" salaries stack up against those of some of the other highest-paid actors on television?
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
ADVERTISEMENT
How the salaries of 'The Big Bang Theory' actors compare with TV's highest-paid stars
"The Big Bang Theory" ends its 12-season run on Thursday. The actors were some of the highest-paid on television.
The Big Bang Theory
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
"The Big Bang Theory" ends its record-breaking 12-season run on Thursday, and the actors were some of the highest paid on television.
Actor Jim Parsons made headlines last summer for walking away from a reported two-year $50 million paycheck for two more seasons of the sitcom. That included $1 million an episode plus profits. CBS then announced the show would end with its 12th season, which premiered in September.
READ MORE : The 2 most popular TV shows of 2018 were both canceled: 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Roseanne'
ADVERTISEMENT
In 2017, Variety reported that the show's five original cast members Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg agreed to take $100,000 pay cuts in order to help costars Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik earn more. The two were making $200,000 an episode compared to the $1 million the original five were making.
For the final season, Rauch and Bialik received raises, according to The Hollywood Reporter , and made at least $425,000 an episode.
Parsons, Galecki, Nayyar, and Helberg were the top four biggest earners on Forbes' list of the highest-paid TV actors of 2018 . Parsons topped the list with $26.5 million in pretax from June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2018. Cuoco was Forbes' second- highest-paid TV actress of 2018 with $24.5 million in the same time period.
But there are other TV stars whose salaries are on par with the "Big Bang Theory" actors, including Norman Reedus, who is making $1 million an episode for "The Walking Dead" after his costar Andrew Lincoln departed the show.
Below are some of TV's highest-paid actors and how much they make per episode:
ADVERTISEMENT
$1 million Norman Reedus, "The Walking Dead" (AMC)
BusinessInsider USA Images
"The Walking Dead"/AMC
Source: Variety (2018)
$1 million Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaids Tale" (Hulu)
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Hulu
Source: Variety (2018)
$1 million Nicole Kidman, "Big Little Lies" (HBO)
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
HBO
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$900,000 Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
BusinessInsider USA Images
CBS
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
$900,000 Kaley Cuoco, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
BusinessInsider USA Images
Sonja Flemming/CBS
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
ADVERTISEMENT
$900,000 Johnny Galecki, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
BusinessInsider USA Images
CBS
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
$900,000 Kunal Nayyar, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
CBS
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
$900,000 Simon Helberg, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
CBS
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
$650,000 Dwayne Johnson, "Ballers" (HBO)
BusinessInsider USA Images
HBO
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
$600,000 Julia Roberts, "Homecoming" (Amazon)
BusinessInsider USA Images
Amazon
Source: Variety (2018)
ADVERTISEMENT
$575,000 Ellen Pompeo, "Greys Anatomy" (ABC)
BusinessInsider USA Images
ABC
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$500,000 Sean Penn, "The First" (Hulu)
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Hulu
Source: Variety (2018)
$500,000 Kit Harington, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
HBO
Source: Variety (2017)
$425,000 Melissa Rauch, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
BusinessInsider USA Images
CBS
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
$425,000 Mayim Bialik, "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
BusinessInsider USA Images
CBS
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2017)
ADVERTISEMENT
$375,000 John Goodman, "The Conners" (ABC)
BusinessInsider USA Images
ABC
Source: Variety (2018)
$350,000 Millie Bobby Brown, "Stranger Things" (Netflix)
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Netflix
Source: Variety (2018)
$250,000 Sterling K. Brown, "This Is Us" (NBC)
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
NBC
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$250,000 Evan Rachel Wood, "Westworld" (HBO)
BusinessInsider USA Images
HBO
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (2018)
$175,000 Sophie Turner, "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
BusinessInsider USA Images
HBO
Source: Indiewire (2019)
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also:
- The 2 most popular TV shows of 2018 were both canceled: 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Roseanne'
- The 30 most popular shows from Netflix and other streaming services in 2019, so far
- Steven Spielberg's production company is pulling out of 'Bull,' which CBS just renewed despite Eliza Dushku's allegation of sexual harassment against the show's star
SEE ALSO: The 30 most popular shows from Netflix and other streaming services in 2019, so far
FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
10 least powerful African passports in 2024
Top 10 African countries with the largest labor force
Video footage of Asian man beating two Africans sparks racism comments online
East Africa’s future in energy shines brighter on the continent
Infinix NOTE 40 Series takes centre stage with all-round fastcharge 2.0
Here are the new causes of Nigeria’s inflation according to the CBN governor
Russian troops have entered base housing US military forces in Niger
Digitalisation: A revolution in financial services
