Seinfeld was named after Jerry Seinfeld, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus is what made the show as successful as it was. Dreyfus played Elaine Benes, the female lead in the series. Like her other castmates, Dreyfus earned $600,000 per episode. After Seinfeld ended, Dreyfus’ acting chops kept her in the public eye.
She contributed heavily to Larry David’s show, and recently starred in the political comedy series “Veep.” The show has already won numerous awards, yet another testament to Dreyfus’ incredible talent. So when you consider that Dreyfus has been a lead on not one, but two big shows, the paychecks have been coming quite consistently.
Julia Roberts – $600,000
At one point, Julia Roberts was the highest-earning woman in show business. While she doesn’t work as often now, her notoriety alone demands a high salary. Recently, she departed from her normal career as a movie actress and starred in the Amazon thriller "Homecoming."
The show was about a treatment center for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress and it earned Roberts $600,000 per episode. There is no denying though that Roberts has made an absolute killing over the years. With classic films such as "Pretty Woman," "Erin Brockovich" and "Notting Hill" under her belt, it is clear that Roberts is doing just fine financially.
Reese Witherspoon – $2 Million
Jennifer Aniston wasn’t the only actress making the big bucks on "The Morning Show." Her costar Reese Witherspoon also earned $2 million per episode. Witherspoon’s salary on "The Morning Show" was a big increase from the HBO drama "Big Little Lies," where she earned $1 million per episode.
Although both Witherspoon and Aniston were nominated for Golden Globes for their work on the series, neither snagged the award. And beyond this, we know that Witherspoon has made a decent living from her time in movies such as "Legally Blonde" and "Wild." Heck, she even worked with Aniston on "Friends" as well.
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen – $80,000
Although this salary doesn’t sound impressive compared to the large earnings on this list, it’s quite big when you consider that it was the Olsen twins’ first paycheck. Not only that, but they also earned this sum when they were just three years old!
Today, Mary-Kate and Ashley have a net worth of about $300 million. They have ventured out of the TV space and now focus most of their energy on fashion and other industries. One thing's for sure - we are convinced that the Olsens have been benefitting heavily from their time on "Full House" right up until the present day.
Kelly Clarkson – $461,000
Kelly Clarkson won "American Idol," but her career did not stop there - that's for sure. The win was just the tipping point in her climb to fame, which included a thriving music career. She also joined the cast of The Voice, but she was paid slightly less than her male costars.
Clarkson earned $12 million per season as a judge. That amounts to roughly $461,000 per episode, depending on the number of episodes. While she’s a perfect example of the gender pay gap, Clarkson is still making quite a lot of money for her work as a judge.