The highest paid TV actresses in the world

Who are TV’s highest paid actresses?

Bernice Ng

14 Sep 2015

updated the 6 October 2015 à 22:28

1/15
1. Sofia Vergara
Sofia Vergara, star of the effortlessly hilarious TV series Modern Family, where she plays Gloria, earns a whooping USD28.5 million, alongside her own business ventures and hosting and modeling gigs.
2/15
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting plays Penny, one of the two main female leads on the sucessful sitcom, Big Bang Theory. She's been on the show since season 1 and is now in season 9, with no signs of stopping, which means she'll continue raking in her USD28.5 million.
3/15
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen is Sofia Vergara's co-star on Modern Family as Claire Dunphy, and it seems like the two of them have a great thing going, as she earns USD12 million. She has also appeared on the famous Lost, and several other popular TV shows
4/15
Ellen Pompeo
You may know her better as Meredith Grey from Grey's Anatomy, the hit medical drama TV show. Ellen also starred in Daredevil, a high profile action movie. She is earning USD 11.5 million, and her acting skills sure deserve it.
5/15
Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Hargitay is 51, and looks like she's 25. And despite the industry having younger actresses, she sure isn't hindered.
At number 5 on this list, the actress famous for her role on NCIS: SVU and earns USD11 million
6/15
Julianna Margulies
Julianna Margulies found her succuss after she landed the part of Nurse Carol Hathaway in ER, another long-running medical drama.
Her other role is as Alicia Florick, in The Good Wife. She has won a myriad of awards, and earns USD10.5 million.
7/15
Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler is a comedian, actress, producer, writer and voice actor among many other things.
Famous for her role as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation, which she produced, she makes her USD10.5 million by being hilarious and intelligent.
8/15
Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling is an actress, comedian and writer, with three books under her belt, and star and producer of The Mindy Project, where she plays a successful doctor who is striving to get her life together.
It's been going strong for several seasons, and it brings in USD9 million for her.
9/15
Kerry Washington
The beautiful Olivia Pope is played by Kerry Washington, a role she got widespread public recognition for, which is proven by her many award nominations.
Her many movie roles, in addition to her TV roles have brought her USD7 million.
10/15
Patricia Heaton
Coming in with USD7 million, you'll recognize Patricia as Debra Barone on the sitcom called Everyone Loves Raymond, and now she stars on The Middle as Frances.
11/15
Tina Fey
Cashing in USD6.5 million, Tina Fey is an actress, writer and producer, and not to mention one of Amy Poehler's good friends and comedic partners.
Like they say, birds of a feather flock together. They host together often and is most well-known for her Saturday Night Live sketch comedy series.
12/15
Emily Deschanel
Also at USD6.5 million, Emily Deschanel is the older sister of Zooey, who is further down this list.
Her latest role is in a comedy-drama series, Bones, as Dr. Temperance Brennan.
13/15
Pauley Perrette
Pauley Steele is as talented as she is beautiful.
With USD6 million, not only does she play Abby Scrutio in NCIS, she is also a published writer and a civil rights activist.
14/15
Robin Wright
Robin Wright starred in many iconic movies as their leading lady, like The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump.
But she is now rocking the smaller, but not any less impressive role as Claire Underwood in the politcal drama, House of Cards, a Netflix production.
The hugely sucessful and well-receieved series earns her USD5.5 million.
15/15
Zooey Deschanel
Remembered and loved for her role as quirky-cute Jess on New Girl, and the younger sister of Emily Deschanel, she earns USD5 million, and some of that also comes from her music career and modeling.

You may idolize some of these women for their looks, their flawless hair, or their youthful skin. But here’s another thing to admire about them: their paychecks.

TV show buffs will love these little trivia nuggets about their favorite TV actresses – all kinds of actresses, from movies to television, especially lead roles of popular tv shows, earn big and live big.

Leading ladies such as Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson and more, earn big bucks for their roles in movies, but their TV show counterparts get grossly overlooked, despite their talents.

But not anymore as Forbes has released the list of top 15 highest paid actresses in America, that definitely serves as your viewing and trivia-learning pleasure. You may recognize most of their names, if not their faces, like Zooey Deschanel from New Girl, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting stars in The Big Bang Theory, and Kerry Washington from Scandal. With impeccable acting, it merits the salaries they are paid.

We used to idolize them for their perfect smiles and perfect hair, but after this article we idolize their paychecks as well.

Bernice Ng

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