2 Big Bang Theory Actors Earned $21.6M After Main Cast Paycut

It's been over four years since the final episode of The Big Bang Theory aired, yet the show's popularity is showing no signs of waning. Undoubtedly, its hit spin-off, Young Sheldon, has helped keep it relevant, but The Big Bang Theory has always been a flagship sitcom for CBS in its own right.

Debuting in 2007, it wasn't an immediate success, with few people predicting it would evolve into one of the biggest comedies globally. Yet, the series eventually ran for twelve seasons, catapulting its cast to stardom and making them filthy rich in the process. In fact, by the last few seasons, the main TBBT cast members were so wealthy that they could afford to take pay cuts to help their co-stars get more money.

As a result, two actors whose characters were not initially regarded as central to the plot ended up making a staggering $21.6 million each for the final two installments of the sitcom.

TBBT Stars

When it premiered back in 2007, TBBT focused primarily on Sheldon, Penny, and Leonard, portrayed by Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and Johnny Galecki, respectively. Thus, when Kunal Nayyar's Raj and Simon Helberg's Howard joined the gang later, the two actors were offered less money per episode than the three original stars. And when Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch came on the show as Amy and Bernadette, they were offered even more modest deals, as their characters were never expected to attain the same cult status as the original core lineup.

Joining TBBT in the third season, they were each paid $200,000 per episode, even when the original cast members were getting millions. Towards the final seasons, it was felt that the two talented female leads deserved more, but CBS said they couldn't afford to give Bialik and Rauch the well-deserved raises.

Sharing is Caring

To help their friends and co-stars negotiate better deals, the main cast, including Parsons, Cuoco, and Galecki, took significant pay cuts in the eleventh and twelfth seasons of the sitcom. For example, Jim gave up $200,000 from his per-episode earnings. As a result, Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik got those pay raises: each actress ended up making $450,000 per episode. Given that the final two seasons comprised forty-eight episodes, Rauch and Bialik each made $21.6 million during that time.