The Crown, which depicts a story of female empowerment, has revealed it paid Claire Foy, who played Queen Elizabeth in seasons 1 and 2, less than her male co-star.
During a panel at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem, The Crown producers were asked whether Foy was paid the same as Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip in the series. Variety reported that the producers "acknowledged that [Smith] did make more due to his Doctor Who fame, but that would rectify more in the future." The show's creative director Suzanne Mackie said, "Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen."
However, Foy and Smith won't be returning to The Crown, as the parts are getting completely recast for season 3. Olivia Colman will replace Foy as the Queen, and the show has yet to announce who will step in for Smith.
Back in August, Variety reported on the salaries of a number of TV stars, including Foy. According to the report, Foy—who was mostly unknown in the U.S. before the show—made $40,000 per episode. In comparison, Kerry Washington earned a reported $200,00 per episode of Scandal, and Chrissy Metz, who was also mostly unknown, earned $40,000 per episode of This Is Us. Though, as Vanity Fair points out, This Is Us had more first season episodes than The Crown.
Foy joins a long list of women in Hollywood who have been paid less than their male co-stars: Just recently, it was reported that Michelle Williams was paid almost 10 times less than Mark Wahlberg for All The Money In The World, and Catt Sadler left E! after discovering she made less than her male co-host.
Season 3 of The Crown will air in 2019, and hopefully this time around, the Queen will be getting her fair share.
Madison is the digital deputy editor at ELLE, where she also covers news, politics, and culture. If she’s not online, she’s probably napping or trying not to fall while rock climbing.
