Executive producers of hit Netflix period drama The Crown have admitted that star Claire Foy was paid less then her male co-star Matt Smith.
WTF.
Essentially, Foy – who played a young Queen Elizabeth II, a.k.a. the star of the show – was paid less money that her co-star Smith (Prince Philip) because he was already a ~name~ thanks to his stint as the Time Lord on Doctor Who.
The producers revealed the news during a panel discussion about the series at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
“The producers acknowledged that [Smith] did make more due to his Doctor Who fame, but that they would rectify that for the future,” Variety reported.
“Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen,” said executive producer Suzanne Mackie.
Foy was reportedly paid US $40,000 per episode, which reportedly had a per-episode budget of at least $7 million, making it one of the most expensive TV shows ever made.
Unfortunately, she won’t be seeing any of the financial boost, as she won’t be returning to the drama. The entire ensemble has been recast to reflect the ageing of its characters, with Foy being replaced by Peep Show‘s Olivia Colman, and Vanessa Kirby (who played Princess Margaret) being replaced by the perfectly cast Helena Bonham Carter.
A replacement Prince Philip has yet to be announced.
