A few months ago, after it emerged that Claire Foy was paid less than her on-screen husband Matt Smith despite her starring role in The Crown, there were reports that she would be receiving more than $AU 350,000 to make up for the disparity.
It appears, however, that these stories were not accurate. In a recent interview to promote her upcoming film The Girl In The Spider’s Web, Foy poured cold water on the whole thing. She seemingly did not receive any amount in back pay, saying:
“That was what was reported that I was back-paid. I’ve never mentioned anything about it and neither have the producers. The fact that that is ‘fact’ is – not quite correct. Yes, it’s Netflix, but it’s a British production company. It happened at the same time as it was coming out with a lot of other people that there was a lot of pay inequality across the board – in the music industry, in journalism, in every industry. It’s across the board that it became part of a bigger conversation, which is an odd place to find yourself in.”
After admitting the pay gap between the two stars, The Crown producer Suzanne Mackie told media that “going forward, no one gets paid more than the queen.” While that’s great news for Olivia Colman, who will portray the queen from season three, it doesn’t exactly do Claire Foy any good, since her time on the show is now over.
