Euphoria has been a huge hit for both HBO and actress Zendaya and as a result of this she has been able to renegotiate her contract to include a hefty salary. Puck News reports that Zendaya is now set to earn “close to” $1 million USD per episode for her role on Euphoria on which she also serves as a producer. However it should be noted that this information hasn’t arrived from Zendaya or her associates themselves so take it with a grain of salt.
The $1 million per episode mark is a huge milestone for actors since the it was made public that the cast of Friends had negotiated a similar deal for each of them. However, they aren’t the only actors to achieve this, they aren’t even the highest paid, Kelsey Grammer was reportedly making $1.6 million per episode on the last two seasons of Frasier. This isn’t the first time HBO have done this as the main cast of Game of Thrones received similar treatment, while The Sopranos star, James Gandolfini, was also paid $1 million per episode.
If the reports are true than this contract would make Zendaya one of the highest paid Black actresses in television history. The current title belongs to Angela Bassett of 911, with reported earnings of $450,000 per episode. However, it should be noted that 911 puts out far more episodes than Euphoria.
She isn’t the highest paid actress on TV though, there she is beaten by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirrin for their Yellowstone spin-off, 1883, as well as John Krasinki for Jack Ryan, and Mahershala Ali for the upcoming series, The Pilot.