It’s safe to say far too many actors still aren’t paid what they’re really worth, even if some (mostly male) actors on the A-list get paid a blatant fortune. When you’re on Game of Thrones, you have every right to request a raise with HBO suits considering the giant pile of cash the show continues to generate. In the case of Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, he had to move up the financial ladder like every other actor proving their worth.
How much has he made playing Jon Snow compared to his fellow thespians? Are we looking at another gender pay disparity here, or has Game of Thrones maintained equal pay without making winter arrive?
Kit Harington’s initial salary was fairly modest
Considering Harington wasn’t really known here in America back in 2011, it took a couple of years before he started making a better salary for his role. He eventually made $300,000 per episode, which is still good for someone who essentially had to introduce himself to American audiences.
It’s only been in the last couple of years that he and the cast battled it out to raise their per-episode paycheck. Fortunately, it wasn’t a complete man’s world when it came to the cast getting what they wanted. Even so, not all of the cast were able to equalize on what they earn. You can break down the high salaries based on how much screen time (and torture) various cast members managed each week.
Thanks to one equal pay arrangement, you can see why Harington and his main co-star get along so well off the set.
The top five who managed equal pay
For many, the Top Five of Game of Thrones is Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, and Lena Headey. These five actors seemed like they banded together to raise their salaries for the seventh and eight seasons.
Harington and the rest managed to get their pay up to $500,000 per episode, with the former making $13 million to date as his net worth. Yes, this also means two of the women in the cast finally were able to say they’d be paid as much as their male co-stars.
This doesn’t mean there hasn’t been some controversy over some of the other female stars not being paid equally. Sophie Turner, for one, is still only making $150,000 per episode. Turner has been quoted in the press lately as saying Harington deserved his raise because of the harder work he had to put in, including grueling night shoots in the cold.
Did Kit Harington stand up for the other female stars on a raise?
It’s unknown whether he fought for Turner and Maisie Williams to go beyond their $150,000 per episode pay grade. Turner is an equal pay advocate, but she says the horrendous night shoots Harington put in makes it a different issue from the usual equal pay problem.
All told, the entire cast have still made millions of dollars, despite some getting paid more than others. The ROI they’ll have later from being household names and expanding their careers will also more than pay off.
While Harington likely has enough money to take a long vacation, it makes us wonder if he’ll eventually earn more for any new projects.
Was Kit Harington’s ‘GoT’ salary once in a lifetime?
The danger, of course, is that Harington and his other cast members will likely become typecast for a while due to Game of Thrones being so overwhelming in pop culture. No doubt it’ll be similar to what the original Star Wars cast had to go through, outside of most eventually reinventing themselves.
Harington has nothing significant lined up for this year once GoT ends on May 19. By the time he goes back into movies or TV, you have to wonder if he’ll have to prove his worth all over again. No wonder so many actors lament they’ll never see their pay level again once a hit TV show winds up a long run.
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