Claire Foy may be Netflix’s queen on “The Crown” but there’s a royal fuss about the off-screen pay gap between the actress and her co-star Matt Smith who played her husband.
The confirmed but figureless pay gap was revealed by show producers Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries during a discussion about “The Crown” at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem, In Style magazine reported.
Their reasoning was that Smith brought his “Doctor Who” fame to the show, which earned him a higher salary. That came despite the fact Foy was awarded a Golden Globe and SAG Award for best actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth's early years in the first and second season of “The Crown.”
The producers went on to say they planned to rectify the situation, with Mackie insisting that “going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen,” Variety reported, but that won’t change things for Foy.
As the show moves into the 1970s, Olivia Coleman will now step in as an older version of the monarch for the upcoming season three.
The disparity further highlights an ongoing issue of unequal pay in the entertainment world.
Earlier this year, it emerged that Mark Wahlberg had been paid significantly more to reshoot scenes for “All the Money in the World” than his co-star Michelle Williams, CNBC reported.
Last year, Natalie Portman revealed she had been paid three times less than her “No Strings Attached” co-star Ashton Kutcher.
Forbes’s annual highest-paid list draws further attention to the gender pay gap.
Wahlberg topped the list last year with $68 million while the highest-earning actress, Emma Stone, made $26 million, Vanity Fair reported.
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