Many consider The Sopranos to be one of the greatest TV shows ever made. As a result, the HBO drama that revolved around this New Jersey-based gangster family was a hit both critically and commercially.

This meant that the late, great James Gandolfini, who passed away too soon at the age of 51, benefited considerably. The man who played Tony Soprano ended up making $1 million per episode and also won numerous awards for his performance, including three Emmy awards and a Golden Globe.

It seems absurd that in this day and age, an actor/actress could build virtually their entire career around one iconic TV role. However, this is exactly what Mariska Hargitay has done in her career.

Since 1999, the actress has been the main player in Law & Order: SVU and 19 seasons later (and counting), she is still playing the role of Olivia Benson. Officially the longest-serving performer on the show with over 410 episodes under her belt, Hargitay easily makes over $12 million per season.

Officially the second highest TV earner of all time, Ray Romano made an absolute killing from his hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. He narrowly missed out on the number one spot in the official rankings, earning a huge $1.7 million per episode.

The show, which went on for nine seasons, was both a critical and commercial success, winning a staggering 15 Primetime Emmy Awards. Romano’s $130 million net worth should come as no surprise since the finale had 32.94 million viewers alone!

At one point, most young ladies were obsessed with the main character from the hit show Gilmore Girls – Rory Gilmore. So it should come as no surprise that Alexis Bledel was earning $750,000 per episode alongside her co-star Lauren Graham.

Bledel recently reprised her role as Rory in the Netflix sequel to the series called Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Each of the four episodes in this miniseries was like a mini-movie, running between 88 and 102 minutes long.

Regarding by many as one of the most gripping shows on TV for most of its run, Dexter was a show like no other. Michael C. Hall played the titular character to a tee and was rewarded for his performances with a hefty salary.

This wasn’t before a heavily publicized salary dispute with the producers. It was rumored that the show could have been canceled in light of the issues. Even though an agreement was made, many fans were not happy with the way the show ended.

Is there a more iconic group of friends than Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe? For a decade, Friends was undoubtedly the most popular sitcom of its time and its legacy lives on, with many considering it one of, if not the greatest TV show of all time.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that each of the six friends ended up earning a whopping $1 million. When you consider how long the show ran for (over 200 episodes), that’s a pretty impressive salary!

Although it is probably the lowest salary on this particular list, and there are numerous actors who could have been included, the Olsen twins make it purely because of how young they were when they were given their first check.

At just three years of age, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were earning an incredible $80,000! With a current net worth of $300 million, the twins have gone on to venture into other industries, working in both TV and also becoming fashion designers.

Another show on this list that is still going is the post-apocalyptic zombie show The Walking Dead. However, the show is just as intriguing for its portrayal of living humans as it is with the undead.

Take Andrew Lincoln’s character, for example – Rick Grimes, who has been used as a lens to demonstrate the grey areas in society’s moral code. The British actor is the highest paid performer on the show, making a whopping $650,000 per episode. He won the 2017 Saturn Award for Best Actor on TV.

Another one of the highest earners on this list is Kelsey Grammer and for a good reason. The actor left such a huge impression on the TV community with his performance as Dr. Frasier Crane in the sitcom Cheers, that the producers decided to dedicate an entire show to the character.

After the Boston-based show came to an end, this paved the way for the spinoff Frasier, which lasted for a staggering 11 seasons, from 1993 to 2004. Grammer is reported to have a net worth of around $60 million.

When it comes to securing long-term roles on multiple TV shows, Mark Harmon has been absolutely prolific. With big roles on shows such as St. Elsewhere and Chicago Hope, Harmon took his career to the next level when he became a series regular on the crime drama NCIS.

Not only has he won awards for his role as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but Harmon has also made a ton of money from it. Despite rumors of an imminent recurring role, the actor is still raking it in.

The man who had a show named after him – there is no doubt that Jerry Seinfeld was the biggest thing in comedy for over a decade. Eventually becoming the most viewed show of all time due to successful re-runs, Seinfeld ended up getting $1 million per episode during the show’s final season.

This is in no small part due to the fact that 1 in 10 Americans watched the show! NBC was so desperate to keep the show going that the network offered the comedian an incredible $5 million per episode!

Although reality TV has, in itself, revolutionized the way that people spend their evenings, fans around the world can owe a lot to the Kardashians for hours and hours of golden material.

Practically every detail of the family’s life has been made public since 2007 and Kim Kardashian has probably benefited more than anyone. While each member was earning $10 million per season, Kim reportedly ended up getting a $5 million bonus after convincing Kanye to join the show too.

Up until Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd’s untimely death on the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey was (for lack of a better term) making an absolute killing.

After successful roles in movies such as Loverboy and Can’t By Me Love, Dempsey eventually got his big break on Grey’s Anatomy, making $350,000 per episode. It seemed like Dempsey was destined for a medical drama role, after also auditioning for the role of Dr. Chase in the show House, M.D.

Possibly one of the most successful actors on this list from a commercial perspective, Will Smith originally made a name for himself as a rapper before being cast in his own show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

What you may not realize is that Will probably only made about $50,000 per episode in his first three seasons, seeing that 70% of his salary was taken by the IRS. However, Smith has gone on to star in numerous blockbusters such as Independence Day and Suicide Squad, so no need to worry about him!

It wasn’t just Helen Hunt who made a cool $1 million per episode for her role as Jamie Buchanan in the hit sitcom Mad About You. She owes a lot of thanks to Paul Reiser for creating incredible chemistry that warmed the hearts of millions of viewers, week in, week out.

Also making $1 million per episode like his on-screen wife, Reiser hasn’t slowed down since his time on the TV show came to an end. He also appeared in the Academy-Award nominated Whiplash.

Many will know Drew Carey for being the host of game shows such as The Price is Right and Whose Line Is It Anyway? However, his biggest source of income came from his own show, The Drew Carey Show.

The show, which revolved around a fictionalized version of Carey, ran for a staggering 9 seasons. With 233 episodes to his name, you can imagine that Carey did pretty well for himself when all was said and done. Whatever he ended up earning, you can safely say that the price was right.

Just like Alexis Bledel, her on-screen mother Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham, raked in a cool $750,000 per episode on Gilmore Girls once the show seriously took off.

Both Graham and Bledel reprised their roles as mother and daughter Lorelai and Rory in the Netflix revival miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life. However, Gilmore Girls isn’t the only show that Graham had a prevalent role in. She also played Sarah Braverman for over 100 episodes in the drama Parenthood.

It’s amazing to think that after Charlie Sheen was kicked out of Two and a Half Men, his replacement, Ashton Kutcher, was still able to earn $100,000 more per episode than his co-star Jon Cryer, who had been on the show since its very beginning.

However, at $755,000, Kutcher was a bargain compared to Sheen, who was raking in over a million dollars more per episode. He held down his role as tech entrepreneur Walden Schmidt for four seasons until the show came to an end.

In case you didn’t know by now, Hugh Laurie is actually British. He was just putting on a really good American accent when he played the role of Dr. Gregory House in the critically acclaimed medical drama House, M.D.

Considered to be the standout performer of the show, Laurie earned a cool $700,000 per episode. With 177 episodes to his name, Laurie made the Guinness Book of World Records, when he was named the “most-watched leading man on television.” He has recently starred in Veep.

As the epic fantasy show Games of Thrones has progressed, many main characters have been built up only to be killed off in cold blood. This has paved way for some of the big players of the show to signed some lucrative deals.

The most notable stars of the remaining seasons; Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Lene Heady, and Kit Harington also signed recent deals that would earn each of them a whopping $2 million per episode.

A worthy foil to Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier Craine, David Hyde Pierce played his younger brother, psychiatrist Niles Craine. Pierce famously referred to his character as “what Frasier would be if he had never gone to Boston and never been exposed to the people at Cheers.”

Although he didn’t receive as much as his on-screen brother, Pierce still went home from every episode with a cool $750,000 in his pocket. He has also won numerous awards for his performance as Niles Craine.

Officially the highest-paid actor at one point, Charlie Sheen made history when he signed a deal that would see him earn an incredible $1.8 million for his role as Charlie Harper in the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men.

However, this good news for Sheen would eventually be overshadowed by his public meltdown, which saw producers part way with the actor as Sheen entered rehab. Although he has still got a staggering amount of money, his reputation has sadly been tarnished forever.

Not only was Roseanne Barr the star of the show that was named after her, but she was also the sitcom’s executive producer. Getting $500,000 per episode means that the actress is currently worth over $80 million.

The revival of her hit show in 2017 didn’t really go according to plan, despite positive reviews for the first season. One of Roseanne’s tweets went viral for all the wrong reasons, and even though she apologized and tried to blame her behavior on side effects from her medication – her show was canceled before the second season.

Although this doesn’t look like such a high number compared to other salaries you’ll see on this list, Alan Alda was at one point, one of the highest-paid TV actors of his time.

He is best known for his award-winning performance as Hawkeye Pierce in the show M*A*S*H, which ran from 1972 to 1983. Although he made just $10,000 per episode during his early days on the show, he would end up earning so much more by the end of its run.

Andrew Lincoln might earn more than Norman Reedus for his work on The Walking Dead, but his co-star isn’t straggling too far behind in the money department.

Reedus plays the popular character, Daryl Dixon, an expert tracker, who gets swung into the zombie action after working with his brother Merle. There is no denying that The Walking Dead is Reedus’ ultimate claim to fame. However, he has also had his own reality TV show, Ride with Norman Reedus.

Although it is nowhere near as much as the amount that Julie Louis-Dreyfus earned for Seinfeld or Hellen Hunt bagged for Mad About You, Tea Leoni is another actress who seems pretty happy with the money she is making from her most recent TV role.

Leoni plays the character of Elizabeth McCord on the hit political drama Madam Secretary. Of course, Leoni has also made a name for herself in movies such as Deep Impact and Jurassic Park III.

It should come as no surprise that Dwayne Johnson has also taken a slice of the TV pie in recent times, starring in the hit show Ballers.

Originally known as The Rock, one of the most iconic wrestlers in WWE history, Johnson has made a smooth transition into the world of acting and has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters in recent memory. These include Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Moana, and The Fast & The Furious franchise.

Another star who is raking in a big paycheck per episode for her work on Shameless is the extremely talented Emmy Rossum. She plays Frank Gallagher’s daughter Fiona, the eldest of the siblings.

Her character has often acted as a mother-figure to the rest of the family, taking responsibility and usually putting herself first. Not only is she one of the main characters on the show, but Rossum has also gone behind the camera, directing two of the show’s episodes!

Who can forget Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld? The man with the fuzzy hair was the neighbor of Jerry Seinfeld for many successful seasons and although Michael Richards didn’t take home as much as Jerry and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, he still made a killing!

In all honesty, Richards hasn’t done that much since his time on the most successful TV show of all time came to an end. However, he did have his own short-lived show, The Michael Richards Show.

It was Charlie Sheen who was stealing the headlines during his time on Two and a Half Men, especially towards the end of his time on the sitcom.

However, it was his co-star Jon Cryer who provided the perfect foil as the uptight, straight-edge brother Alan Harper. Cryer originally made a name for himself when he starred in 80s classics such as Pretty in Pink. However, Two and a Half Men simply took his fame to another level.

Originally making a name for herself in a number of movies directed by Judd Apatow, Mindy Kaling started to truly get her name out there with her role in the hilarious sitcom The Office.

TV networks saw how talented the actress was that they gave Mindy her own show – The Mindy Project. Numerous celebrities have made cameos on the show and although it was a critical and commercial success, the show came to an end in 2017 after six seasons.

It has already been a long time since William H. Macy established himself as one of the most talented actors in the game. With roles in critical successes under his belt such as Magnolia, Fargo, and Air Force One, Macy has been beloved by movie fans for decades.

But it is his role as Frank Gallagher in the hit drama Shameless (based on the UK TV show of the same name) which has given the actor a reputation as one of TV’s most iconic characters.

Kerry Washington’s fame has skyrocketed since the turn of the Millennium. The actress is best known for her lead role as Olivia Pope in the political thriller series Scandal, which she was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her stellar performances.

However, there is so much more to Washington’s career. The actress has had a long string of impressive roles in movies such as Ray, Django Unchained, and The Last King of Scotland, to name a few.

Another cast member of Seinfeld to rake in a large sum for each episode he starred in was Jason Alexander, the man behind the king of neuroses – Costanza.

Although Alexander has never been able to eclipse the success he found on the hit sitcom phenomenon, he has had a pretty steady career since the series came to an end. Not only has he appeared in movies such as Shallow Hal; Alexander has had a fruitful career in theater.

To this day, TV fans are still baffled as to how Seinfeld remains one of the most popular shows of all time. One of the key reasons for the sitcom’s success was its female lead Elaine Benes, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Despite not earning as much as Jerry, she still earned a lot.

Not only has the actress contributed heavily to Larry David’s show, but she has also made a name for herself elsewhere, most recently in the political comedy Veep, which has already won numerous awards.

Khal Drogo, Jason Momoa’s character in Game of Thrones, shot him to stardom, but by the time his former colleagues were making millions from the episodes, his character had long ago been written off.

Although he didn’t get the lion’s share of the Game of Thrones pie, which invariably went to the actors whose characters lasted until the last season, his rise to stardom means nowadays he’s getting paid well too. For his new Apple TV+ show, See, Momoa was paid $600,000 an episode!

Grey’s Anatomy, if you didn’t already know, is a play on the classic 19th century medical textbook known as Gray’s Anatomy, which was written by Henry Gray. The show, however, focuses on Meredith Grey, a female doctor working at a Seattle hospital.

It’s such a success that it’s in its 16th season, so it’s only fair that the star, Ellen Pompeo, receives her fair share of the pie. Each episode of the medical drama means a fat paycheck of $575,000 for Pompeo.

Bryan Cranston has been around for a while, but it took him time to get to the $700,000-an-episode paycheck he now receives for the Showtime show Your Honor. That’s more than he got paid per episode for Breaking Bad, which is his greatest acting legacy.

He’s been dazzling TV audiences for years, with notable roles in shows like Seinfeld in the ’90s and Malcolm in the Middle in the 2000s, so it’s only fair that he receives one of the higher paychecks.

Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, better known as Chance the Rapper, makes a lot of money performing and recording music. He’s a Grammy winner as well, so it’s no surprise that Netflix pays him $500,000 an episode for Rhythm + Flow, which is their first music competition program.

Alongside fellow judges and hip hop artists T.I. and Cardi B, Chance the Rapper critiques unknown rappers trying to win the cash prize of $250,000. To hold off who wins in the end, Netflix abandoned its usual approach and releases all the episodes at once.

Ryan Seacrest is a hot commodity on TV, but unlike many other celebrities on this list who have displayed multiple talents, Seacrest pretty much just hosts. He’s good at it, though, and is paid well for a very wide array of different programs, such as American Idol.

In the 2013-2016 years, reportedly he was making a whopping $15 million per season. Not all the seasons had the same amount of episodes, but there were only 23 in 2014. This places his salary per episode at $652,000, and that’s a whole lot of money.

Tokyo Vice, a TV show, isn’t yet out, but we can’t wait. It’s actually based on a true story of an American journalist uncovering corruption in Tokyo in the late ’90s, which is why we want to see it so badly.

Apparently, the memoir “steps on too many toes,” said Jake Adelstein, the writer, and therefore no Japanese publisher wants to publish it, even though there’s a translated Japanese version. Ansel Elgort plays Adelstein, and for this he was given $500,000 an episode, reportedly.

Britney Spears doesn’t really need to work at all anymore, seeing as she’s been releasing fabulous hit after fabulous hit ever since she was a teenager.

Regardless, she was a judge on X Factor, but just because she doesn’t need the money doesn’t mean she won’t take it! In 2012, for example, she made $15 million. Seeing as there were 28 episodes, that puts her over half a million with $536,000 an episode, rounded up to the nearest thousand.

Cardi B is another Grammy winner who is on this list for judging other musicians, and she gets paid well for it, too. In Rhythm + Flow, she, T.I., and Chance the Rapper all judge aspiring rappers trying to win the $250,000 cash prize posted by Netflix.

It’s unknown at the moment how much T.I. makes, but Cardi B makes half a million dollars per episode! Chance also gets the same, and it’s nice to know Netflix values equal pay between men and women, but this just makes us curious about T.I.

Adam Levine of Maroon 5 has long ago expanded beyond being just another normal musician over the past decade. In 2012, for example, he made his acting debut when he featured in American Horror Story‘s second season.

Even before then, though, he proved that he could do more than just sing and play guitar. Until recently, he was a coach on The Voice, and his team won the very first season. He reportedly made $13 million a season, which came out to $500,000 an episode for season 11.

Katy Perry deserves to be a judge on American Idol, yet some questioned whether it made sense for her to be making more than other judges on the show. She makes $25 million a season, which is ridiculously large.

Rounded up to the nearest thousand, this came out to $1,389,000 per episode in season 17, as there were only 18 episodes. It might seem unfair that Lionel Ritchie, her fellow judge, reportedly makes only $10 million, but you feel less bad when you realize that came out to $556,000 an episode, rounded up to the nearest thousand.

A member of Blake Shelton’s team has won in six of the 17 seasons of The Voice, which is more than a third of them. That’s a pretty good record, and he gets a lot of money for coaching these contestants at $13 million a season.

In 2016, for example, he made a whopping $500,000 an episode during season 11, which was 26 episodes. Sundance Head, one of Shelton’s team members, won the competition that year. His girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, is also a judge.

Jennifer Lopez is best known for being a singer and an actress who, over the past three decades, has made her mark both in movies and in music.

It should come as no surprise that she was paid a ridiculously big $500,000 an episode to be a judge on American Idol back in 2012. That’s a lot of money to get for passing judgment on people, but it’s safe to say that such a giant of the music industry knows what she’s doing when critiquing music.

Kelly Clarkson shot to fame when she won the first American Idol competition, which was broadcast on TV for the whole country to see. She embarked on an astronomical music career since then, rubbing shoulders with the greats so often that she’s widely considered one herself, today.

Clarkson was brought on to The Voice, where she reportedly earned $12 million per season. Take season 15, for instance, which had 26 episodes — she made a whopping $461,000 per episode!

Mariah Carey is one of the greatest divas in the world, and that means that if you want her for your show or event, it comes with a hefty price tag. She’s got a five-octave vocal range, for crying out loud!

It’s said that she can extend this to seven, which has just got to increase her asking price. To be a judge on season 12 of American Idol, for example, she was reportedly paid a massive $18 million dollars. That comes down to $486,000 for each of the season’s 37 episodes.

Paul Rudd stars in the bizarre dark comedy Living with Yourself, which premiered last year on Netflix, in which he plays a copywriter who is unhappy with his life. One day, he discovers he has a clone, who is also played by Rudd.

We won’t give too much away, but we can’t wait until another season comes out. Seeing as he’s actually playing two different characters, it’s no surprise that he got a fat check for this — a whopping $450,000 per episode!

Chris Evans has come a long way from Not Another Teen Movie, but he has been steadily climbing to the top of show business with a series of increasingly prestigious roles.

He’s Captain America, for crying out loud! Defending Jacob is an upcoming TV miniseries that is part of Apple TV+’s push to bring high-profile names and quality original content to their streaming platform. Evans plays the lead role of Andy Barber, for which is getting paid $750,000 an episode.

Steve Carrell has had an impressive career that started in strictly comedy, pretty much, yet he proved that he can bring serious, moving performances to dramas as well.

Despite the successful transition, Carrell knows his fans would be heartbroken if he left comedy completely behind. His upcoming show, Space Force, is going to be a comedy about the people tasked with forming the new branch of the U.S. military, and he’s getting paid $1 million an episode.

The first time many people saw Patrick Stewart was as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation. As he’s shown with other roles, such as Professor X in the X-Men series, he’s more than happy to reprise these roles, which is a good thing!

Can you imagine any other actor being brought onboard to replace him for 2020’s Star Trek: Picard? He doesn’t seem tired of it, but even if he is, he’s well-compensated at $750,000 an episode.

Jennifer Aniston is already on this list as one of the cast members of Friends, a show where she and her castmates eventually made $1 million per episode!

That pales in comparison to how much Apple TV+ paid her per episode of The Morning Show, which has earned critical acclaim and award nominations, although it didn’t win any. She reportedly made $2 million an episode to play alongside Reese Witherspoon in the newsroom drama. Steve Carrell also features, but in a supporting role.

Reese Witherspoon also made $1 million an episode for Big Little Lies, but even that massive sum was dwarfed by how much she made an episode for The Morning Show, which she stars in alongside Jennifer Aniston.

It premiered on Apple TV+, and many people were pleased to see such good new shows on the streaming platform.  Both of these talented actresses were nominated for Golden Globes in 2020 for their performances, but neither snagged the awards. Just getting nominated says a lot, though.

Simon Cowell gained a reputation for being a really harsh judge on the original Pop Idol, which aired in the U.K. first, but the fact is he has been a well-respected member of the music industry for a very long time.

The role of a judge offering harsh critique is one he reprised year after year, both on American Idol and on X-Factor. It was for the latter that he made $75 million for the 80-episode 2012-2013 season. That’s a lot of money for telling it how it is!

Big Little Lies follows five women surrounding a murder investigation in Monterey, California, which ended up getting enthusiastic feedback from critics and TV viewers alike.

This convinced HBO to renew the show for a second and third season, even though it was originally only meant to be a miniseries. It also earned Nicole Kidman critical acclaim, but the network knew that she would deliver the goods when they brought her on board. That’s why they paid her a crazy $1 million per episode!

Shakira, the Columbian superstar, is one of the most respected female pop singers in the world, so The Voice knew she would be an awesome judge. She can credit no one but herself for becoming a massive international sensation, as she has been working hard at becoming a successful singer since she was a girl.

So with that know-how, she gets paid $12 million a season, although the seasons have different amounts of episodes. This makes her one of the better-paid judges on the show, but Christina Aguilera was once paid even more.

Christina Aguilera made a name for herself over the years for her powerful voice, so she was brought on board to be a coach for The Voice. She’s now known as a singing coach, too, and reportedly earned $17 million a season to coach in 2013, which comes out to about $530,000 or $6000 an episode depending on the season.

The seasons have a different number of episodes and sometimes feature two seasons a year. She was given more than other coaches until later seasons when she accepted a massive pay cut of about $5 million per season.

Gwen Stefani has come a long way from the lead singer of a 3rd wave ska band from California. Since the mid-’80s when the band, No Doubt, was founded, she has scored hit after hit, both solo and as a collective.

It’s clear that she knows her vocals and her talents are well respected in the industry. She accordingly earned $12 million per season for being a coach on The Voice in 2017, it was reported. This put her at a whopping $450,000 per episode aired. Not too bad, Gwen!

Meryl Streep is one of the most well-respected actresses in the world, and deservedly so. It’s only fair to put her name on this list, even though The Nix hasn’t been released yet and is apparently still looking for a network.

J.J. Abrams adapted the Nick Hill novel of the same name into a TV series, and Streep’s immense talent was hired to play the leading actress. Everything she’s done has been good, so we’re certain she more than earned the $825,000 she was reportedly paid per episode.

Judge Judith Sheindlin, best known as the host and judge of Judge Judy. People love watching her real-life court cases, where her sharp wit has made her the most popular TV judge around.

Producers didn’t originally think that it would be such a success, yet her sharp wit put her ahead of all the other judge shows on TV. Accordingly, she also makes a lot of money at a whopping $47 million for these televised appearances, and these average out to once a week.

Elisabeth Moss won an Emmy Award in 2017 for her portrayal of Offred, the protagonist of the dystopian TV series The Handmaid’s Tale. TV audiences were shocked by what the haunting realism they witnessed on screen, but without Moss’s talent, it’s unlikely the show would have had the same effect.

She had already won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Madmen and Top of the Lake at the time, so producers knew she could deliver the goods when they offered her a whopping $1 million per episode.

Miley Cyrus was born into music royalty, as her father is Billy Ray Cyrus, the original “Achy Breaky Heart” singer. While she was just a girl, she had her own TV show called Hannah Montana, which shot her to fame.

Since then, her songs have landed on the Billboard charts numerous times. It’s no secret that she can sing, and she’s also been paid good money to help others sing, too. She made $13 million for the 2016-2017 season of The Voice, which comes out to over $550,000 per episode.

Julia Roberts was at one point the highest-paid woman in show business, but she still manages to demand a hefty salary, even if other women took her place in that spot long ago.

She’s usually playing in movies, yet the success of TV shows in recent years has attracted her to TV as well. Homecoming, the Amazon thriller about a supposed treatment center for post-traumatic stress combat veterans, Roberts was paid $600,000 per episode. That’s a lot of money!

Another of the heavy hitters on our list is Buzz Lightyear himself, Tim Allen. Portraying the lead of Home Improvement, Tim Taylor, proved to be the career-defining move that the actor deserved.

However, Allen has gone on to work on numerous other successful projects. Not only was he the star of The Santa Clause trilogy, but he also voice-acted alongside Tom Hanks in the Pixar classic Toy Story, as well as its numerous sequels. He has recently worked on the show Last Man Standing.

Many are amazed at just how popular The Big Bang Theory has become. Not only did Chuck Lorre strike gold with Two and a Half Men, but he also was the genius behind this show, which centers around a group of nerds trying to find their way in the social jungle.

The five original stars; Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, and Kaley Cuoco all earn $900,000 per episode and it looks like they’re not going to stop anytime soon.

ABC show The Middle has been one of the most consistent sitcoms in recent memory. As a result, Patricia Heaton, who plays the female lead of the show, Frankie Heck, has been making a cool $250,000 per episode.

The Middle isn’t the only popular show that Heaton has had a notable role in. She also earned much praise and was considered for many awards, including seven Emmy Awards, for her role as Debra Barone in the Ray Romano-led TV show Everybody Loves Raymond.

The 90s sitcom Mad About You might not ring a bell quite like Seinfeld or Friends. Nevertheless, the two leads of this popular show were each earning $1 million per episode at one point.

One of those stars was the one and only Helen Hunt, who played the character, Jamie Buchman. She was a PR expert who was living in New York City with her husband, played by Paul Reiser. Hunt has also starred in movies such as Cast Away, As Good as it Gets, and Twister.

Modern Family, like The Big Bang Theory and Game of Thrones, is a fine example of a hugely successful ensemble show that is doing well both commercially and critically.

The cast is praised so much that virtually everyone has been rewarded financially for their performances – most notably, the adults of the show. Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell, Sofia Vergara, and Eric Stonestreet are all believed to be earning in the region of $500,000 per episode.

Some of the most famous and successful actors, singers, and media personalities today were once pom pom yielding cheerleaders. Here’s a look at some of your favorite celebrities that cheered their way to stardom.

Before becoming an actress, Diaz was one of the best cheerleaders at Long Beach Polytechnic High School. The blonde beauty got her start as a fashion model at age 16, working for the likes of Calvin Klein and Levi’s. In 1994, Diaz starred in The Mask, which launched her into the spotlight.

Long before her days of becoming a well known culinary star, Rachael Ray was a cheerleader at Lake George High School, in Lake George, New York. How cool is that? It’s not hard to see the striking resemblance to what she looks like today with her short brown hair and small button nose.  Nowadays Ray is spending most of her time in the kitchen on her multiple shows on the Food Network. She even had her own line of kitchenware!

Ciara was the captain of Riverdale High School’s cheerleading squad and has wholeheartedly admitted to loving the dancing, energy, and excitement that came along with the sport. In an interview, the R&B singer revealed, “Unfortunately, I couldn’t be as involved as I wanted to be because it was a year when my music started to become even more important to me.” CiCi may have traded in her pom-poms, but focusing on her music definitely paid off big time in the end.

She may have been born in Paris, but Kathie Lee Gifford arrived in Bowie, Maryland at just four years old and by 14 she was a cheerleader. Gifford won Maryland’s Junior Miss Pageant in 1970, an event that moved her out of Bowie and on her way to superstardom. After high school graduation, Gifford studied drama and music at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She’s now best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. 

Ripa, who grew up in southern New Jersey, showed an affinity for performance at a young age, as she became a cheerleader at Eastern Regional High School. It wasn’t until her drama teacher, Jim Beckley, encouraged her to pursue acting that she finally recognized her true calling. After dropping out of college, Ripa moved to New York City to become an actress, and landed her first major role on the soap opera All My Children. Since then she has appeared as host of Live With Kelly and Ryan.

Once upon a time, before she became an award winning actress, Sandra Bullock was a cheerleader leading pep rallies at Washington-Lee High School. The Blind Side actress Sandra Bullock attended Washington-Lee High School nestled in Arlington Virginia. Bullock also performed in her school’s theater productions before graduating in the class of 1982.

The daughter of a hospital manager and psychiatric nurse Halle Berry did it all at Bedford High School in Cleveland, where she was a cheerleader, honors student, editor of the school newspaper, and was even prom queen. Berry made her television debut in 1989 and two years later broke out on the big screen in Spike Lee’s film Jungle Fever. In 2001, the talented actress became the first African-American to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monsters Ball.

If you thought the My Humps singer is a knockout now, take a look at this photo of her on the spirit squad! Born Stacie Ann Ferguson, Fergie was a cheerleader and a straight-A student at Glen A. Wilson High School. After high school, Fergie studied dance, and in 2003, she replaced former Black Eyed Peas singer Kim Hill to create the album Elephunk which spawned the hit singles Where Is the Love? and Shut Up. Fergie’s cheerleading background has definitely helped with her flexibility while dancing on stage.

For Mexican-American actress Eva Longoria, cheerleading wasn’t only an extracurricular activity she enjoyed but also one that directly parlayed into a successful Hollywood career. Longoria was a cheerleader at Roy Miller High School, in Corpus Christi, Texas, and continued to cheer during her college years at Texas A&M-Kingsville. In 1998, Longoria won the Miss Corpus Christi pageant during which she was discovered by a theatrical agent in Los Angeles. Longoria is known best for her role as Gabrielle Solic in the ABC series Desperate Housewives.

Long before she was known as the Material Girl, Madonna grew up in Detroit as the child of blue-collar Italian-American immigrants. While Madonna attended Rochester Adams High School, she was a not only a straight-A student but also a member of the cheerleading squad. Although she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan, Madonna dropped out and moved to New York City in 1978. It was there that the young artist began to develop into a pop music icon.

For the Transformers actress cheerleading did not necessarily translate into high school popularity, as Fox was born in Tennessee into a strict Pentecostal family. When the actress’ family moved to Florida, Fox attended Morningside Academy in Port St. Lucie, where she was a member of the cheerleading squad, but was also bullied. After moving to California, Fox made her acting debut in 2001 and three years later starred alongside Lindsay Lohan as a cheerleader in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

Denise Richards went through many phases as she grew up in Illinois as an athletic tomboy. That was before she became a cheerleader for El Camino High School after moving to Oceanside California with her family. After graduating, Richards spent the majority of the 1990s taking on roles in productions such as Saved By The Bell, and Married With Children until she met former husband, Charlie Sheen. Given her cheer background, she may have been the one who taught him to spell W-I-N-N-I-N-G.

Even at age 30, model-turned-actress Brooklyn Decker could probably still pass for a high school cheerleader. In 2005, Decker attended and cheered for Butler High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Not only was Decker a member of the spirit squad but she was also her school’s senior class president. We wonder if she’s responsible for planning her 10-year reunion? If so, we’re sure all of her classmates will be green with envy after one look at the successful actress and supermodel.

While Olivia Wilde attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, she was on the step team. According to the Love The Coopers actress, stepping is another form of cheering. Wilde even commented on this photo saying, “This was a great squad. The funny thing about this picture is that my high school happens to also be the school that George W. Bush went to. And one of the most famous photographs of him was as head cheerleader in almost this exact same outfit.”

The daughter of a former Wall Street trader, Lohan grew up on Long Island in New York, where she cheerlead for both Cold Spring Harbor High School and Sanford H. Calhoun high school, before opting for homeschooling. Lohan began her career as a child model for brands like Abercrombie, Calvin Klein, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, and Jell-O.  In 1998 Lohan landed her first successful movie role in The Parent Trap, followed by Freaky Friday in 2003.

Married to an NFL free agent, it seems all but destined that Simpson was a cheerleader during her years at Richardson North Junior High School in Texas. Even after Simpson dropped out of high school at age 15 to pursue her singing career, the blonde is still remembered by Cowboys fans as Tony Romo’s former biggest cheerleader. Simpson dropped out of J.J. Pearce High School after she impressed then-Columbia Records exec Tommy Mottola, who signed her for a record deal immediately.

Although Munn was raised primarily in Japan, where her stepfather was stationed in the Air Force, her roots run deep in Oklahoma. It should come as no surprise that cheerleading is a part of the actress’ background. When her mother and stepfather split, Munn moved back to Oklahoma City where she began cheering for Putnam City North High School. After graduating with a degree in journalism, Munn moved to Los Angeles and began working in show business ultimately landing the lead in Iron Man.

Who would have known that Streep was the type to rock a cheerleader uniform? Someone very sneaky managed to get ahold of Streep’s high school yearbook in 2012 and shared the photographic evidence of her cheer days with the world. Apparently, before she was one of the world’s greatest living actresses, Streep was a varsity cheerleader at Bernards High School in New Jersey. We bet she was one of the fiercest gals on the squad.

The controversial comedian is almost unrecognizable as a 17-year-old in this astonishing photo from her high school yearbook. Griffin attended Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois. The outspoken redhead – who has made no secret of her numerous procedures – has come a long way from her days as a fresh-faced member of her school spirit squad. Here we can see popular Kathy standing on her teammate’s hands as they pose in what appears to be an impeccable formation.

This photo is living proof that Alicia Silverstone was and always will be an all-American beauty. With her luscious long blonde locks, baby blue eyes, and ruby red lips, Alicia looks even more patriotic in her red white and blue uniform. Born to British parents in San Francisco, the Clueless actress honed her performance chops at San Mateo High School, by cheering on her fellow Bearcats. She probably never guessed that her cheerleading experience would lead to a career in Hollywood.

When speaking about women who can do it all, Blake Lively is a name that often comes up. With an actor father and talent scout mother, Lively seemed destined for the limelight. However, she was initially not interested in performing at all. After years of acting conditioning, when Lively made it to Burbank High School she needed to find time not only for homework and cheerleading but also to film her scenes for the movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Believe it or not, Zellweger wasn’t always a cool and confident actress. During her time at Katy High School in Katy, Texas, Zellweger was a part of the cheerleading squad where she flipped, dipped, and did the occasional hand spring. These talents have stuck with Zellweger because apparently, she’s still got the moves!  The Bridget Jones’s Diary actress stopped by the Jimmy Fallon Show to show off her cheerleading moves, as well as her incredibly toned legs.

Before she started making America laugh on shows like Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and Parks and Recreation, Poehler was energizing crowds at her high school’s football games. As a teen, Poehler moved from Newton to Burlington, Massachusetts where she was a pom-pom wielding cheerleader for Burlington High School from 1986 to 10 1989. After high school, she graduated from Boston College with a degree in communications and later Poehler moved to Chicago, where she continued to improve her comedic skills.

Diane Sawyer revealed that as a teenager she often felt overshadowed by her older sister. It wasn’t until she became a cheerleader for Seneca High School in Louisville, Kentucky that Sawyer began to break out of that loner stage. Cheerleading was just the first taste of fame for Sawyer as she spent three years on tour promoting the Coca-Cola Pavilion at the World’s Fair, and in 1978, she appeared on televisions throughout the country after joining ABC News, where she still remains today.

Just when we thought fried chicken was the best thing to come out of Kentucky, there’s The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence, who grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, had a very busy extracurricular schedule. During J-Law’s high school years she played softball, basketball, field hockey, and was also a member of the cheer team during her high school years. Since graduating and moving up in the ranks of Hollywood, Lawrence has starred in big name films including Silver Linings Playbook, and X-Men: First Class.

Miley was so cute back in the day, who would have guessed that years later she would be swinging back and forth partially clothed on a giant wrecking ball? Anyways, back to cute baby cheerleader Miley. When the Hannah Montana actress was seven years old, she became a cheerleader for the Tennessee Premier soccer team in her small hometown of Franklin. One might say that performing is in Miley Cyrus’ blood as she was born to country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

When fame got too much for the second youngest of the Kardashian Klan, she slipped into her uniform and escaped through competitive dance, better known as cheerleading. Throughout her high schools days, Kendall was a cheerleader, but we’re not talking about just any kind of cheerleader. To be even more specific Kendall was on the varsity squad for Sierra Canyon School. Girls on the varsity team were specially outfitted in a snazzy blue and white uniform complete with matching metallic pom poms as seen below.

For Dakota Fanning, acting came long before cheering. Acting roles came pouring in left and right when she was a child, and the young star blossomed into a frequent guest on television shows like ER, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Practice, Spin City, Ally McBeal and The Ellen Show. With her acting career solidly built, Fanning began to focus on her education and other social aspects of school. She was on the varsity cheerleading squad at Campbell Hall School and was also named the homecoming queen.

Gabrielle Union was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but at the age of eight moved with her family to Pleasanton, California, where she was raised. During high school, Union was a cheerleader and took those skills to the silver screen playing Torrence’s rival cheerleader, Isis, in the 2000 smash hit film Bring It On. Sports are a big deal in the Union family, and Gabrielle once said,”In my family, if you couldn’t talk Cornhusker football, then you don’t get to have an opinion.”

Given the role of Emma Pillsbury she plays on Glee, constantly going to battle with cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, it’s ironic that Jayma Mays was a cheerleader herself in high school. With her ringlet curls, big bright smile, and perfectly pressed uniform, it looks like Mays made one heck of a cheerleader. It also seems as if she got on very well with the rest of the girls on her squad judging from her playful pose with the girl on her left.

Before graduating from the University of Virginia and beginning her successful career in journalism in 1979, Couric attended various public high schools in Arlington, Virgina where she was a spirited cheerleader. The journalist and television host is now famous for being the Global Anchor of Yahoo! News and 60 minutes. We would never have guessed that Katie Couric would look so adorable as a cheerleader, but the famous journalist sure had some moves back in the day.

While this photo doesn’t scream cheer captain like the pictures of other celebrities on this list, believe us that Jones was a contributing member of the spirit squad during her grade school days. Although Rashida Jones was a cheerleader, she has admitted to being one of those ‘well-rounded students,’ having also participated in math club and the National Honor Society. She was a pom-pom shaking student with a nerdy side, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that kind of balance.

From adorable cheerleader to power attorney, it’s easy to see how this Southern belle acquired her enviable self-esteem. Before Parks landed a spot on the riveting reality show Real House Wives Of Atlanta, and before she was throwing it down in the court room, she was a simple country girl with a drive for more. While attending Clarke Central High School located in Athens, Georgia, Phaedra passed the time by cheering on her school’s squad. After graduation in 1990, she went on to pursue a career in law.

Going back in time a little bit, here’s yet another celebrity who was a cheerleader before becoming a superstar on the silver screen. The Swedish-American actress, singer, and dancer was a cheerleader at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. We don’t know about you, but judging from this photo we see that Margaret had star potential way back in the day. Just look at that glimmer in her eye as well as that animated power stance.

Cheerleading isn’t all fun and games, and for some girls, the competitive sport can get dangerous, but not in the way you think. Before Jersey Shore, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi was a high school cheerleader in Marlboro, N.Y., Polizzi said, “Cheerleading was my life in high school, but it wasn’t always easy for me. I started to be anorexic. There were freshmen, who were 70 pounds and I was, like, my spot as a flier is going to get taken away. So I ended up starving myself.’

It’s no surprise that Paula Abdul started off in cheerleading. She was a cheerleader and an honors student at Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, California and after graduating went on to become a Laker Girl. Once there, she was nominated as the head choreographer for the squad.  While she looks very cute in that Lakers uniform, Abdul traded in her pom-poms for a seat at the judge’s table as she became one of three judges of American Idol.

Life really does imitate art especially for actress and former cheerleader Mandy Moore. The Princess Diaries star used to be a Pop Warner cheerleader which probably explains why she was able to master her role as the pom pom waving Lana Thomas in The Princess Diaries. Moore proved she had talent at a young age as she debuted her smash single, “Candy,” at just 15! Moore also starred in A Walk to Remember, and currently stars in TV show This Is Us.

With her impeccable performance as Torrance Shipman in the cheerleading comedy Bring It On, it’s no surprise that Kirsten Dunst was a cheerleader herself until 2000, which happened to be the same year the movie was released. Born in New Jersey, Dunst was signed to Ford Modeling Agency at 3-years-old and appeared in over 100 TV commercials. All the while, the blue-eyed beauty found time to be a cheerleader for Laurel Hall School and later Notre Dame High School.

Before she was an actress, Kristie Alley cheered on her school’s athletes in Wichita Southeast High School in Kansas. After dropping out of Kansas State University, the actress moved to Los Angeles to pursue Scientology and try and make it big in Hollywood. A few years later, she replaced actress Shelley Long on the cast of Cheers, gaining four Emmy nominations and one win for her role as Rebecca Howe. She has since played in many films and television series.

Chrissy Teigen seems to break the internet every time she posts a picture. She shared the cutest photo of herself as a high school cheerleader to Instagram. Before her modeling days, she was a football cheerleader. Surrounded by her teammates, Teigen dimply smile and sleek dark hair as she posed in her Snohomish High School’s adorable red and white cheerleading uniform.

Before he became a world renowned actor, Kirk Douglas actually rose to high school fame when he joined his cheerleading squad. He perfected his skills at his local high school, Amsterdam High School, in Amsterdam, New York. But that’s not all…

It’s clear Michael Douglas loves to follow in his father’s footsteps. Just like his pop, Douglas became a famous actor. But before that, he joined his cheerleading squad, too, at Choate Preparatory School. Needless to say, the Douglas men are talented in many unexpected ways.

Paul Rudd simply does not age – he has made a name for himself in Hollywood as the ever-so-lovable stud. Way before he was one of the industry’s favorite actors, Rudd was a cheerleader, or “yell leader” when he was a high school student in Overland Park, Kansas. He was also elected Student Body President – which doesn’t come as much of a surprise to us, considering his smile is contagious. Fun fact, up until around 70 years ago, cheerleading was a predominantly male sport!

She found fame thanks to her killer dance moves in the 2006 film Step Up, so it makes total sense that she used to be a dancer. But before she started in Hollywood, Jenna Dewan was an ordinary high school cheerleader in Texas. Jenna first got her big break in the entertainment industry, working as a back-up dancer for music icon Janet Jackson in 2001. The dancer turned actress shared a cute throwback photo on Instagram of her cheerleader days alongside the caption: ‘#tbt to Texas high school cheerleader days.’

Before she starred in Orange Is the New Black, Danielle Brooks was a cheerleader. She did eventually quit because of how she felt in the skirt. In an emotional letter that the actress shared online, she wrote: “You really quit cheerleading because of how you felt you looked when you were wearing a skirt? OK! Never ever quit anything again because you’re scared of what others might think of you — unless you become an exotic dancer, the only exception. But even then, only quit because you want to.”

Unlike other ladies on this list, back when she was in high school Melissa Rycroft was on the drill squad. She was such a talented dancer already that she made it as first lieutenant. Later, she became a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys, and made her debut TV appearances on CMT’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. She also appeared on The Bachelor and, afterward, Dancing with the Stars. Most recently, she was a host on CMT’s Redneck Island.

Stacy Keibler used her good looks and smarts to get where she is today. Utilizing her athleticism, she got a job as a Baltimore Ravens cheerleader. Then, she used that as a springboard to enter professional wrestling as part of WCW from 1999 to 2001. That year, she moved to WWE, where she was a regular presence for five years. Keibler still makes occasional appearances but started concentrating on publishing a fitness editor at Stuff magazine in 2005, for which she also modeled. She’s appeared in several films and regularly appears as a TV hostess.

He might be the last person you’d expect to appear on this list, but the truth is that Samuel L. Jackson was on the cheer squad when he was a student at Morehouse College. Interestingly, he joined in order to meet women, as Morehouse is a men’s school. While at school to become a marine biologist, he joined a local acting troupe to get points in a class. This piqued his interest and he switched majors, eventually getting a Bachelor of Arts in Drama degree.

Jesse James Decker has come a long way since she was a 15-year-old cheerleader, but this has always been to the side of her music passion. That year, she was rejected by Nashville labels after auditioning, yet it was her experiences there that helped her get better. Within a few years, Decker was writing and performing hit music and started gaining recognition. She’s since appeared in reality TV shows alongside her husband, former NFL wide receiver Eric Decker, and gotten involved in fashion design.

Long before she became famous for her role as Aria Montgomery in Pretty Little Liars, Lucy Hale was a cheerleader in school. She’s been involved in singing and acting since she was young, though, and appeared as a competitor in the singing competition TV show American Juniors. Hale made her big debut on the silver screen with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 in 2008 and hasn’t looked back since. Although she hasn’t found widespread success with music yet, she describes it as her “first love” and released an album in 2014, Road Between.

We all know him for his stellar performances in blockbuster films such as The Pink Panther and Father of the Bride. But what we didn’t know is that Steve Martin was also a member of his high school cheerleading squad in Garden Grove, California. The comedian also tried to write funny cheers for his squad to perform, but they weren’t too pleased with them, to say the least.

There is no denying that Sally Field has come a long way during her 50+ year career. Not only has she starred in hit movies such as Forrest Gump and Mrs. Doubtfire, but she also has two Academy Awards to her name! What many casual fans don’t realize though is that the talented actress, who also had big TV roles in shows such as The Flying Nun and Gidget, enjoyed performing as a cheerleader when she was younger. She performed at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California.

It feels like Reese Witherspoon has been around forever and yet, until this very day, she looks like she has been the same age for the last 30 years! Not only has she appeared in hit movies such as Legally Blonde, but Witherspoon has even won an Academy Award for her role in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The talented actress posted this photo on social media of the good old days when she performed as a cheerleader at her school.

Here we have Nene Leakes before the fame and the fortune of starring in the popular E! reality series Real House Wives Of Atlanta. It now all makes sense to us why Leakes is so spunky and spirited on the show. From a young age the TV personality was clearly into rousing people up and putting on a good show, and it all started in grade school. She also looks like a natural with her casual pose showcasing her pom-poms.