Kaley Cuoco's huge earnings from Big Bang Theory have been revealed
Kaley Cuoco's $60,000-an-episode wage at the start of The Big Bang Theory went up heck of a lot towards the end of the show.
Back when The Big Bang Theory first started, The Flight Attendant actor was on the same salary as co-stars Johnny Galecki, who played Leonard, and Jim Parsons, who - of course - played Sheldon.
While it's hard to believe that the finale was seven years ago now, the sitcom did run for 12 seasons from 2007 to 2019, and Cuoco earned more and more with each season.
By season four, her salary was renegotiated to $200,000 per episode with a bump of $50,000 for each subsequent season, according to Entertainment Weekly.
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However, Cuoco renegotiated again heading into season eight.
As reported by Deadline, Cuoco signed a three-year-deal which massively bumped up her wage.
It was reported that she earned a whopping $1 million per episode from then on in, meaning there was a period where she was bringing in around $24 million in a single season from salary alone.
On top of that, Cuoco was also said to have joined the show’s revenue-sharing deal in season eight, securing a one percent stake.
By season 12, Cuoco was said to have taken a $100,000 pay cut to help her on-screen colleagues Melissa Rauch (Bernadette) and Mayim Bialik (Amy) secure pay raises.
Overall, her earnings across all 12 seasons have been claimed to have reached as much as $250 million.
Looking back on becoming the second-highest-paid actress on the 2018 Forbes list, she told the Los Angeles Times in 2020: “That was so special and will be a part of my heart for the rest of my life.
“Nothing will ever compare to that and I think knowing that helps me separate that from what I’m doing now, which is so different and new.”
Her rise to the top didn't start off with a big bang after she was initially rejected for the role of the smiley Cheesecake Factory server.
It turns out she wasn't even called 'Penny' either, as producers thought to change her name to Katie because CBS had another pilot airing around at the time with a character with the same moniker.
In Jessica Radloff's 2022 book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story, Cuoco said: "I know Chuck really wanted me for the role of Katie.
"And I was definitely bummed when I didn’t get it, but I kind of have a way of moving on because you have to."
Also at the start, the female lead was supposed to be a much moodier and worldly character, according to the cast and crew Radloff interviewed for her book.
Casting director Ken Miller explained: "She’s so sunny and bubbly, and they just loved her, but she just didn’t bring the dark qualities.
"She just wasn’t the essence of Penny in that first incarnation."
Topics: Kaley Cuoco, Big Bang Theory, Celebrity, TV
Anish Vij