Highest-Paid TV Actors 2018: Jim Parsons Leads With $26.5 Million

Highest-Paid TV Actors 2018: Jim Parsons Leads With $26.5 Million

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.
All four Big Bang Theory stars saw their paychecks drop from last year after t he 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.

The World’s Highest-Paid Actors 2018

1. Jim Parsons

Earnings: $26.5 million

Primary Show: Big Bang Theory

2. Johnny Galecki

$25 million

Big Bang Theory

3. (tie) Simon Helberg

$23.5 million

Big Bang Theory

4. (tie) Kunal Nayyar

$23.5 million

Big Bang Theory

5. Mark Harmon

$19 million

NCIS

6. Ed O’Neill

$14 million

Modern Family

7. Eric Stonestreet

$13.5 million

Modern Family

8. Jesse Tyler Ferguson

$13 million

Modern Family

9. Ty Burrell

$12 million

Modern Family

10. Andrew Lincoln

$11 million

The Walking Dead

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