Just because she plays a queen doesn’t mean she is paid like one…
In news that is sadly not surprising, it has been revealed that there is a significant (albeit undisclosed) disparity between what Claire Foy and Matt Smith were paid for the two seasons they starred together in The Crown.
According to Variety, The Crown producers, Andy Harries and Suzanne Mackie, recently stated that Smith was paid more than Foy, namely because Smith was coming into his royal role after six years of starring in the British-filmed TV show Dr Who.
The Crown’s royal advisor, Major David Rankin-Hunt once said: “Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I see Claire Foy. She looks so much like the Queen it’s astonishing.”
The producers then went on to acknowledge the pay disparity by promising that there will be no more missing money between co-stars – no matter their gender.
“Going forward, no-one gets paid more than the queen,” Mackie said, as reported by Variety and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Meanwhile, Netflix declined to comment on the salary disparity, while Foy and Smith’s publicists are yet to comment at all.
The Crown was one of the most expensive TV series’ ever made, costing $132million USD to make.
Despite promising to live up to the ideal that we may one day close the gender pay gap, we can’t help but think, however, that the promise of paying male and female actors on The Crown is a slap in the face to Emmy Award-winning Foy.
It’s kind of like the time Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5million US for reshoots for the movie All The Money In The World, while his co-star, Michelle Williams, was only paid $1000 USD per reshoot.
In light of this, Wahlberg ended up donating his salary to the Time’s Up movement.
Netflix and The Crown, it’s your move now…
