Queen Claire’s €226,000 back pay as ‘The Crown’ closes gender wage gap
THE revelation that ‘The Crown’ star Claire Foy was paid less than her male co-star caused a royal scandal last month as the latest example of sexism in the entertainment industry.
Now the award-winning actor will reportedly receive back pay for her performance as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as the makers of the acclaimed Netflix drama seek to close the gender pay gap.
It is not known how much more Matt Smith was paid for playing Prince Philip in the first two seasons of the hit show, but media reports said Foy would get about $274,000 (€226,000) in back pay.
‘The Crown’, a series about the British royal family, is one of the most expensive television shows ever produced, with the first season costing a reported $130m (€107,000).
When details of the pay gap emerged last month, the producers attributed it to Smith’s six-year stint as the star of ‘Dr Who’.
They did not give details of the gap and said they would rectify it in the future.
Foy (33) won a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild awards for her nuanced portrayal of Britain’s monarch in the 50s and 60s.
Other actors will take on the roles as the characters age and the story moves into the 70s.
The ongoing disparity between men and women is reflected in annual lists published by ‘Forbes’ magazine. In 2017, Emma Stone topped the best-paid actress list with $26m (€21.4m), while Mark Wahlberg was the highest paid man with $68m (€56.2m) in estimated earnings.