Emilia Clarke is setting the record straight on long-standing rumours surrounding her Game of Thrones salary. More than a decade after reports claimed that the actress earned an estimated USD 300,000 per episode, Clarke, who famously played Daenerys Targaryen in HBO's blockbuster fantasy series, described the figures as "wildly exaggerated."
Clarke, in her latest interview with Variety, shared her honest take on the rumours, saying, "Can you imagine? I'd have been driving a couple of Porsches!" While she did not disclose her actual salary on the show, she insisted that the numbers going around on social media were widely inaccurate.
The actress also did not directly address Variety's earlier 2017 report, which suggested some principal cast members were earning as much as USD 500,000 per episode in later seasons of the HBO blockbuster.
Pay Parity and Past Statements
Clarke has previously spoken about pay parity on the series, revealing in a 2018 interview that she earned the same as her male counterparts. "It was my first job and I was not discriminated against because I was a woman, in my paycheck," she said at the time during a Cannes Film Festival appearance.
While Clarke seems to rubbish reports about her earnings, salary details for some cast members have emerged over the years. As per Page Six, court documents from a legal dispute involving Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and his former manager reportedly revealed that the actor earned as much as USD 1.07 million per episode for at least six episodes of the show's final season.
Meanwhile, Sophie Turner previously addressed reports that she was earning USD 175,000 per episode. "Kit got more money than me, but he had a bigger storyline," Turner said in a 2019 interview with Harper's Bazaar.
Emmy Reflections and Legacy
In her conversation with Variety, Clarke also reflected on losing out on an Emmy Award for her role in the series. She admitted, "I'm embarrassed to admit that not winning an Emmy was a really significant thing." The actress further revealed that she skipped Hollywood parties after the loss.
Premiering in 2011, Game of Thrones went on to become one of television's most successful and influential series before coming to an end in 2019. The fantasy drama series also starred Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and several other fan favourites.
