The last season of Game of Thrones could well be one of the most hyped events in television history. The barn-stormingly successful HBO series has been a total goldmine for the network, and has gone on to introduce millions of ardent fans around the world to the Song of Ice and Fire series. Personally, I'm totally desperate to know how it all ends, aren't you? Will Jon, Daenerys and Tyrion unite the bickering factions of Westeros and displace Cersei before disaster strikes? Or will the undead hordes of the Night King manage to plunge the Seven Kingdoms into eternal winter? We won't know until the finale airs.
However, once the series winds down, who knows what the cast will have to do instead? Game of Thrones is one of the most popular shows on TV right now - so you can imagine that the cast are earning a fortune at the moment, right? Well: think again. According to a noteworthy former cast member, the actors of Game of Thrones aren't actually paid as much as you might have assumed.
Scottish actor Richard Madden has revealed that he wasn't paid that much money when he portrayed Robb Stark in the first three seasons of GoT, and also that he knew in advance that his character was going to be killed off in the infamous Red Wedding plotline. In an interview with British newspaper The Sunday Times, Madden stated that his co-star, actress Michelle Fairley (who played Catelyn Stark) probably earned more than him.
Madden stated: "People think I am [loaded] because of Game Of Thrones, but you know, when I signed up for that I was 22, with f*ck all on my CV, so I was paid f*ck all ... I care less about how much other people are paid, and more what it takes for me to shut up and go and do my job."
Madden also took time to rail against the wage gap, stating: "The equality thing needs to be addressed hugely between male and female co-stars. I know that from friends of mine. But there's only so much I can do for myself. Agents and lawyers, they do all that stuff ... Going into the world of Game of Thrones, I'd already learnt so much from doing it as a kid, of feeling isolated, or getting arrogant because you're on a TV show. I'd kind of done all that. I could deal with it a lot better."
Madden is currently starring in the ITV series The Bodyguard, in which he portrays Police Sergeant David Budd, a war veteran assigned to protect fictional Home Secretary Julia Montague whose politics stand for everything he hates. Ah well: maybe Madden wasn't exactly paid a king's ransom for playing the king in the north, but hey - it seems like he's one of the hottest actors working in TV right now ... in more ways than one anyway.