The cast of Stranger Things reportedly earned huge paydays for the show’s most exciting fifth and final season.
According to Cosmopolitan, top actors were paid between $350,000 and $1.2 million per episode.
Veteran stars Winona Ryder, who plays Joyce Byers, and David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, are reportedly at the top of the pay scale.
Sources revealed that they each earned around $1,187,500 per episode, making a total of around $9.5 million for the season. However, this represents a significant increase from their previous salaries.
The young Hawkins crew of Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp were reportedly on a different scale, earning around $875,000 per episode.
Their total for the eight-episode season would be just over $7 million.
Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, the show’s most beloved character, was reportedly given a “special deal,” with an estimated budget of between $250,000 and $350,000 per episode due to her long-term contract with Netflix.
Additionally, the staggered salary increase reflects the enormous popularity of the series as well as the scale of Season 5.
Industry insiders also said that Netflix wanted to reward actors for sticking with the series throughout its ups and downs.
Fans quickly noticed these numbers, sparking a debate online, as some of them felt the actors deserved it, while others wondered if such high salaries could affect the show’s production.
Experts said Netflix spent big on the final season, giving actors big salaries and using a huge production run.
Stranger Things season 5 should end with a big and exciting finale while recognizing the years of work of the actors.
