In the age of streaming, the distinction between a TV actor and a movie star is increasingly blurred. Today, Hollywood A-listers regularly switch from the silver screen to the small screen while still banking blockbuster salaries. In fact, some of TV’s top talent can earn more from a small screen role than they can from a multimillion-dollar movie, with the most sought-after stars taking home north of $1 million (£821k) per episode.
From Yellowstone star Kevin Costner to Hollywood icon Harrison Ford, read on to discover the unbelievable salaries of TV’s highest-paid actors in 2022/2023 according to Variety. All dollar amounts in US dollars.
Jared Leto swapped the silver screen for the small screen in March 2022, starring in the Apple TV+ limited series WeCrashed, which chronicles the drama of co-working space start-up WeWork.
For his role as erratic WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, Leto took home an impressive $750,000 (£615k) per episode – a grand total of $6 million (£4.9m) as the series featured eight episodes.
WeCrashed also starred Anne Hathaway as Leto’s onscreen wife and WeWork chief brand and impact officer Rebekah Neumann. Like Leto, Hathaway took home a hefty $750,000 (£615k) per episode, or $6 million (£4.9m) in total, for her work on the show.
The Apple+ miniseries isn't the first time the Oscar-winning actress has traded movies for television. She's previously voiced characters in The Simpsons and Family Guy, and starred in the Amazon Prime TV sci-fi anthology series Solos in 2021, along with Hollywood royalty Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren.
As for the screen superstar's most lucrative role of all time, that was in the 2012 musical Les Misérables, for which she pocketed a cool $10 million (£8.2m).
This May, Seth Rogen starred in Apple TV+ series Platonic, receiving a payment of $750,000 (£615k) per episode for his efforts. The comedy show featured 10 half-hour episodes, with Rogen banking a total of $7.5 million (£6.2m).
Since the funnyman got his start on the teen comedy show Freaks and Geeks in 1999, he’s regularly starred in both movies and TV shows, including recent Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy, which chronicles Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's turbulent relationship.
In 2015, the Canadian star was named the 26th highest-paid actor in the world by Forbes after earning $17 million (£14m) in a single year. This was largely thanks to the $6.5 million (£5.3m) he took home for wacky comedy flick The Interview.
Rose Byrne co-starred with Seth Rogen in Platonic. She also earned $750,000 (£615k) per episode, or $7.5 million (£6.2m) in total.
The Australian actress rose to fame starring in the legal thriller series Damages alongside Glenn Close, for which she reportedly earned a much less lucrative $75,000 (£61.5k) per episode.
Until recently, Byrne starred in another Apple TV+ show, the dramedy Physical. Her salary for this project is unknown.
She's best known for hilarious movies like Get Him to the Greek and Bridesmaids. As her net worth is estimated at between $12.5 million (£10.3m) and $16 million (£13.1m), it’s probably safe to assume her Platonic role was her highest paid to date.
Brie Larson executive produced and starred in the Apple TV+ series Lessons in Chemistry, which dropped in October. Based on the best-selling book by Bonnie Garmus, the series follows an ambitious female scientist who finds herself fired from her lab job when she falls pregnant. The period drama is set in the 1960s.
Oscar-winning actress Larson banked an impressive $750,000 (£615k) per episode for her efforts. As the show features eight episodes, that's a juicy total of $6 million (£4.9m).
This impressive figure beats the $5 million (£4.1m) upfront fee she earned for her leading role in the 2019 superhero blockbuster Captain Marvel.
In April, Elizabeth Olsen starred in the HBO Max series Love & Death, earning a stellar sum of $875,000 (£720k) per episode for her efforts. The true crime miniseries explores the story of Candy Montgomery, a Texas housewife accused of brutally murdering the wife of her lover in 1980.
The chilling show featured seven episodes, meaning Olsen banked $6.1 million (£5m) overall.
The Emmy-nominated actress also starred on the small screen in the Disney+ Marvel series WandaVision. Her salary for the critically acclaimed superhero show is unknown, but she did receive a tidy sum of $2 million (£1.6m) for reprising her WandaVision character, Scarlet Witch, in the recent blockbuster Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Fans are accustomed to seeing Sylvester Stallone in pulse-racing blockbusters like Rambo and The Expendables, but the action man is one of the latest A-listers to trade the silver screen for the small screen.
In 2022, the legendary actor, writer, and producer starred in the Paramount+ mobster drama Tulsa King. For his leading role, he raked in $1 million (£821k) per episode or a grand total of $10 million (£8.2m).
This mammoth payday is nothing new; the star, who's reportedly worth around $400 million (£328m), regularly commands upwards of $15 million (£12.3m) for a flick.
Stallone has certainly come a long way since his breakout role in 1976’s beloved Rocky, for which he was paid just $23,000 (£18.9k) upfront.
The third and final season of the hit sports comedy Ted Lasso aired in March. For his final rodeo as the beloved soccer coach, leading man Sudeikis earned a remarkable $1 million (£821k) per episode.
As the season featured 12 episodes, Sudeikis pocketed an incredible $12 million (£9.8m).
His lucrative payday is a significant increase from the $250,000 (£205k) per episode he reportedly banked in the early days of the show.
For his performance in the Apple TV+ black comedy The Shrink Next Door, Paul Rudd banked a stunning $1 million (£821k) per episode.
Rudd portrayed real-life sinister psychiatrist Isaac Herschkopf, who made headlines in 2021 when it was revealed he’d inappropriately inserted himself into the life of one of his patients for decades.
The limited series, which was based on the eponymous podcast, featured eight episodes, meaning Rudd earned a grand sum of $8 million (£6.6m).
Though this payday is undoubtedly impressive, it’s a pittance compared to what Rudd made for portraying Marvel's pint-sized superhero Ant-Man between 2018 and 2019. His combined salary for Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers: Endgame was a jaw-dropping $41 million (£33.6m).
Dark comedy The Shrink Next Door also starred Will Ferrell, who played Isaac Herschkopf’s unfortunate victim, Marty Markowitz.
Like Rudd, the star also commanded a premium payday of $1 million (£821k) per episode, or a tidy $8 million (£6.6m) in total.
Not only is the in-demand comedian one of the highest-paid TV actors, he’s also one of the highest-earning silver screen stars.
Ferrell banked $20 million (£16.4m) for the 2022 holiday musical Spirited, a comical retelling of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, which also features Ryan Reynolds as Scrooge.
Hollywood royalty Helen Mirren starred in the Paramount+ series 1923, a prequel to the smash western drama Yellowstone.
The series was released in December 2022, with Mirren earning $1 million (£821k) per episode for her role.
The prequel series boasted nine episodes. Therefore, Mirren took home $9 million (£7.4m) overall.
This isn’t the first time the Oscar-winning star has ventured into television. She shot to fame in the 90s starring in the British cop drama Prime Suspect, bagging three consecutive BAFTAs for her role as detective Jane Tennison. Most recently, Mirren featured in Amazon Prime TV’s dystopian anthology series Solos.
We’re used to seeing him in Hollywood hits like Star Wars and Indiana Jones, but for the first time since 1993, Harrison Ford starred on the small screen in 2022. He joined Helen Mirren in the Yellowstone prequel 1923.
Like his co-star, Ford received a stunning $1 million (£821k) per episode for his efforts. Hey, Hollywood icons don’t come cheap.
Though this impressive salary is nothing to be sniffed at, it can't hold a candle to Ford’s biggest payday of all time.
For 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Ford reportedly banked an eye-watering $65 million (£53.3m) to come out of semi-retirement and wield Indy’s whip once again.
Michael Keaton starred in Hulu’s Dopesick, an eight-part miniseries exploring America’s opioid addiction crisis.
For his role in the Emmy-nominated show, Keaton took home a generous $1 million (£821k) per episode, a total of $8 million (£6.6m).
This sum is on a similar scale to the salary Keaton received for his most famous role of all time in 1989’s Batman. He banked $5 million (£4.1m) for playing the caped crusader, the equivalent of $11.9 million (£9.8m) in today's money.
Earlier this year, th star reprised his Batman role in The Flash, though his salary for that project is unknown.
Elisabeth Moss starred in the gripping Apple TV+ thriller series Shining Girls in 2022. She took home a jaw-dropping $1.1 million (£902k) per episode for her efforts. That’s a total of $8.8 million (£7.2m), in case you were wondering.
Her recent work in Shining Girls isn’t the award-winning star's only lucrative TV role. She's also the leading lady of the critically acclaimed Hulu show The Handmaid’s Tale, inspired by the best-selling dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood.
In the early days of The Handmaid’s Tale, Moss took home a modest $175,000 (£143k) per episode, but now commands $1 million (£821k) per episode for her award-winning performance in the show.
Mahershala Ali will receive a mammoth $1.3 million (£1m) per episode for his upcoming starring role in the Disney+/Hulu series The Plot, making him the joint highest-paid actor on TV.
The thriller series, based on a Jean Hanff Korelitz novel of the same name, will reportedly feature 10 episodes, meaning Ali could walk away with $13 million (£10.6m) overall.
The actor, who's best known for his Academy Award-winning roles in Moonlight and Green Book, is also an executive producer on the project.
Ali has an estimated net worth of $12 million (£9.8m). Could this mean The Plot is his most lucrative role to date?
At the height of his film career in the 80s and 90s, Kevin Costner was one of the highest-paid movie stars in the world, with roles in beloved blockbusters like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Bodyguard.
Earlier this year, Costner announced his shock departure from the hit neo-Western series Yellowstone. The Oscar-winning star played Montana rancher John Dutton for five seasons between 2018 and 2023. During the fourth season, he earned an unbelievable $1.3 million (£1m) per episode for his efforts, or a grand total of £13 million (£10.7m).
This jaw-dropping payday is a huge increase from the $500,000 (£410k) per episode salary the star banked during the first season of the show.