Big Bang Theory may be in its final season, but its stars are still making millions for now. Four of the top five highest-paid TV actors have the CBS hit comedy to thank for their monumental paydays, including top-ranked Jim Parsons, who pocketed $26.5 million pretax in the 12 months preceding June 1, 2018.
Parsons claimed the top spot for the fourth year in a row, edging Johnny Galecki (No. 2, $25 million) with additional cash from endorsements and executive producing spinoff Young Sheldon. The pair's Big Bang Theory co-stars, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg, tie at No. 3 ($23.5 million) with fewer side projects to juice their main salaries.
For the fourth year in a row, Jim Parsons is the world's highest-paid TV actor, banking $26.5 million.zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx
All four Big Bang Theory stars saw their paychecks drop from last year after the original cast opted to take a cut from an estimated $1 million an episode to $900,000 in an effort to boost Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch's fee. But they still snag points of the show's back-end, which adds an estimated seven figures a year for each.
Rounding out the top five is NCIS's Mark Harmon, who banks big bucks from the CBS police procedural. Like the Big Bang Theory cast, he has smartly negotiated a cut of the show's profits.
Together, the world's 10 highest-paid TV actors earned $181 million between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018, down from $185 million in the same period last year.
New to the list is Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead, who joins the ranking for the first time thanks to his paycheck from his final season on the AMC show. Expect co-star Norman Reedus to replace him among TV's top-earners next year since Lincoln bowed out — and Reedus reportedly negotiated a raise.
The only actor to drop off the ranking is Kevin Spacey, who was accused of several counts of sexual misconduct and was dropped from his role of Frank Underwood on House of Cards. (He has denied the allegations.) With no new episodes in our scoring period, the disgraced actor failed to make the cut.
METHODOLOGY
All earnings estimates are from June 1, 2017, through June 1, 2018. Figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. Earnings estimates are based on data from Nielsen, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders.
The World's Highest-Paid Actors 2018
- Jim Parsons
Earnings: $26.5 million
Primary Show: Big Bang Theory
- Johnny Galecki
$25 million
Big Bang Theory
- (tie) Simon Helberg
$23.5 million
Big Bang Theory
- (tie) Kunal Nayyar
$23.5 million
Big Bang Theory
- Mark Harmon
$19 million
NCIS
- Ed O'Neill
$14 million
Modern Family
- Eric Stonestreet
$13.5 million
Modern Family
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson
$13 million
Modern Family
- Ty Burrell
$12 million
Modern Family
- Andrew Lincoln
$11 million
The Walking Dead