It’s been reported that Claire Foy, who played Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of The Crown is set to cop that sweet, sweet back pay after it was revealed that she was paid significantly less than her co-star and onscreen regal husband, Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip.
The wage gap between the lead role and her husband was admitted by the show’s producers back in March, and though it was not specified how much of a disparity there was between Foy and Smith’s pay-cheques, Reuters has reported that Foy will receive a cheque to the tune of around $363,000 to rectify the whole kerfuffle.
When a producer accidentally let slip about the wage gap between the co-stars, it was attributed to the fact that Matt Smith was more internationally well-known due to his work as the lead in Dr Who, whereas Claire Foy was less known to international audiences. Bit of a fkn cop out, if you ask me.
After the rest of the world realised that “hmm this is some real bullshit”, the production company for the Netflix show, Left Bank, confirmed that the payment will rectify the gap for every episode that Foy appeared in.
Moving forward, “no one will get paid more than the Queen”, as assured to Variety by executive producer Suzanne Mackie.
I’m sure that Olivia Colman – who is stepping into the royal shoes to portray the Queen from season three – will make it clear that one does not get paid less than one’s co-star.
