One of our favourite Netflix binge-watches has become the latest show to become a poor example of how far we still have to come to close the gender pay gap in the industry.
Despite Claire Foy’s Golden Globe winning performance as The Queen - and being the show’s lead character - The Crown producers have confirmed that Matt Smith who co-starred as Prince Philip was actually paid more. Than THE QUEEN…?
Producers of the popular Netflix drama said Matt Smith’s previous international fame from *Dr Who *was the reason for his higher earnings playing the young Duke of Edinburgh. Whereas Claire Foy had come from lower profile British dramas including BBC’s Wolf Hall.
The show is set to film season 3 with a whole new cast, with Olivia Coleman playing The Queen and Helena Bonham-Carter as Princess Margaret, and while the actor who will be playing Prince Philip has not yet been revealed, The Crown’s co-producer Suzanne Mackie said that the pay different would be rectified.
‘Going forward, no one gets paid more than The Queen,’ Mackie was reported saying by Variety at a television conference in Jerusalem yesterday.
Mackie and fellow producer Andy Harries also pointed out that each episode of the first two seasons cost around $7 million, with Foy having worn 120 costumes in series two, ‘We put that money on the screen,’ Harries said.
And while the salary imbalance is now being sorted, this still means Claire Foy misses out, which is not ok. We just hope this is a huge step in gender pay gaps being called out early, so that women actors are making sure they are getting paid the same as their male co-stars.