Some television and movie characters, despite obviously being very well-off, would not be making nearly as much as you’d expect them to — if they had to exist in real life.
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The folks at MyBizDaq.com did the heavy lifting on figuring out what some of the most famous roles would get paid.
James Bond, an international spy, would be making a fairly low salary for his relatively dangerous job. As a field agent he’s still quite low in the hierarchy, so wouldn’t be making as much as his desk-based colleagues.
Sherlock Holmes, another character who exudes an air of riches, would be on a startlingly-low salary as a Private Detective in the UK. Both of these guys seem to have money from outside of their work though – or you’d expect so by looking at their homes!
Assuming he was in the USA, and not Japan or Italy, Mario would be making just under the median wage in the America as a plumber.
At the other end of the scale though we find Ross Geller (so that’s how he could afford that New York apartment), Liz Lemon (who’d be on an incredible amount of money according to some sources) and Miranda Priestly, the most fearsome boss we’ve ever come across. Still, when there’s that much money at stake, she probably had the right to be that demanding.
Descriptions of characters below are from their respective Wiki page.
James Bond and Ellen Ripley
The problem with our favourite fictional characters is that they live in fictional worlds – worlds where they don’t need to worry about money, rent or bills.
Every week they’re in the same financial situation as the previous episode.
For the rest of us, though, money, rent and bills are all things we have to think about on a daily basis.
To see whether our favourite characters really wouldn’t have to worry, we’ve looked at how much money they’d be earning if they were doing their jobs in real life.
Homer Simpson and Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis “Liz” Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She created and writes for the fictional comedy-sketch show The Girlie Show and later TGS with Tracy Jordan.
She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated television series The Simpsons as the patriarch of the eponymous family.
As the family’s provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as a power plant operator. Homer embodies several American working class stereotypes: he is a crude, bald, obese, incompetent, clumsy, lazy, heavy drinking, ignorant and idiotic person; however, he is essentially a decent man and fiercely devoted to his family. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences.
Michael Scott and Don Draper
Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character in NBC’s The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell and based on David Brent from the original British versionof the program.
Michael is the central character of the series, serving as Regional Manager of the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc. from season 1 through 7. However, he leaves Dunder Mifflin temporarily to form the Michael Scott Paper Company during the late end of the 5th season and shares a co-managerial position with Jim Halpert during a 6th season arc from “The Meeting” to “The Manager and the Salesman”.
Donald Francis “Don” Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC’s television series Mad Men, portrayed by Jon Hamm. Up to the Season 3 finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper. He then became a founding partner at a new firm, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, after he and his superiors left their previous agency in advance of an unwanted acquisition. The agency later merged with a rival firm, Cutler Gleason & Chaough, to become Sterling Cooper & Partners while pursuing a contract from Chevrolet.
The character of Don Draper is partially inspired by Draper Daniels, a creative director at Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago in the 1950s, who worked on the Marlboro Man campaign.
Walter White and Sheldon Cooper
Walter Hartwell White Sr., also known by his clandestine alias Heisenberg, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Breaking Bad.
He is portrayed by Bryan Cranston. A graduate of the California Institute of Technology, Walt was once a promising chemist who cofounded the company Gray Matter Technologies with his close friend Elliot Schwartz and his then-girlfriend Gretchen.
He left Gray Matter abruptly, selling his shares for $5,000; soon afterward, the company made a fortune, much of it from his research. Walt subsequently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he became a high school chemistry teacher.
Sheldon Lee Cooper, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a fictional character in the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons.
Sheldon is a senior theoretical physicist at Caltech and shared an apartment with his colleague and best friend, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki). However, he now lives in Penny Hofstadter’s old apartment with Amy. He is a former child prodigy with genius level IQ, but displays an almost total lack of social skills, a tenuous understanding of humor, and difficulty recognizing irony and sarcasm in other people, although he himself often employs them.
Mario and Ross Geller
Mario appeared in the live-action film Super Mario Bros. that starred Bob Hoskins as Mario, a plumber who finds himself in an alternate universe in which dinosaurs rule where he must save the Earth from invasion. The film was a huge flop at the box office.
Outside the original games, television shows, and film, Mario has influenced the creation of a line of licensed merchandise and has appeared in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adventure Books, were created due to Mario as well.
Ross Geller, Ph.D., is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom Friends, portrayed by David Schwimmer.
Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy, pathetic but lovable demeanor. He is a compulsive liar to avoid arguments or situations with conflict, often leading to an arcing storyline within a show. His relationship with Rachel Green was included in TV Guide‘s list of the best TV couples of all time.
Ron Burgundy and Miranda Priestly
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is the famous anchorman for a local San Diego television station, fictional KVWN channel 4.
He works alongside his friends, who he had known since childhood, on the news team; lead field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sportscaster Champion “Champ” Kind (David Koechner), and intellectually disabled, but loyal and good-hearted chief meteorologist Brick Tamland (Steve Carell).
Miranda Priestly, the British-born (as Miriam Princhek) editor-in-chief of Runway, an influential fashion magazine published by the Elias-Clark company. She is known for wearing a white Hermès scarf somewhere on her person every day, and treats her subordinates in a manner that borders on emotional and psychological abuse.
Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional private detective created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Known as a “consulting detective” in the stories, Holmes is known for a proficiency with observation, forensic science, and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.
Though not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is arguably the most well-known, with Guinness World Records listing him as the “most portrayed movie character” in history.
Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. (also shortened to Indy) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise.
George Lucascreated the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. The character first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, to be followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, The Young Indiana Jones Chroniclesfrom 1992 to 1996, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008.
The character is also featured in novels, comics, video games, and other media. Jones is also featured in the Disney theme park attraction, Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, as well as the Disneyland Paris attraction Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril.
