Claire deeply hurt by ‘Crown’ pay gap
Actress Claire Foy says she felt compelled to speak out about the pay gap between herself and The Crown co-actor Matt Smith to open doors for others fighting for fair play. Foy became a beacon for those fighting for gender equality when she spoke out about the fact she was paid much less than Smith — even though she was the Queen to his Prince Philip on the drama. Now in a magazine interview, Foy has said the whole drama was very upsetting. “I was deeply hurt by it, because I’d been working on that show for two years. I loved everybody on it. And then I realised, ‘There’s been a big, fat, dirty secret that nobody’s ever talked about’,” said Foy.
“But then there was also that thing [of being] an inadvertent spokesperson. Why did it have to be me? I could have said nothing. And I think everyone would have preferred that. But I thought, ‘If I do that, I will be cheating myself and all the other women I know.’”