Between Netflix, Amazon and good ol’ HBO, there are a seemingly endless number of television series on the air. And behind every wildly popular series are some wildly popular actors and actresses. Ever wonder what keeps them going, episode after episode, season after season? Best guess, something to do with the insane amount of money they get paid—for one episode. After you find out that figure, you’ll probably start to seriously consider investing in some acting lessons.
The per-episode salary estimates for some of television’s most popular stars have been revealed for 2017, and the numbers are shocking. The most notable Game of Thrones stars are pulling in a cool half-million per episode, according to Variety. That’s right—stars, as in plural, on GoT are making an estimated $630,000 per episode.
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And the Rock? He’s making $820,000 per episode of Ballers. For a guy who started off as a semi-pro footballer in Canada, he’s a prime example of what happens when you set out to prove the haters wrong. As Business Insider points out, this more than what average Americans of any age demographic can be expecting to make from an entire decade of work, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Indeed, celebrities make a ridiculous amount of money. Find out how others are managing to earn a lucrative living just from posting on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health
