The Crown star Claire Foy paid less than co-star Matt Smith on Netflix hit
THE Crown star Claire Foy was paid less than co-star Matt Smith, despite being on screen for longer.
Show bosses claim it was because Foy, 33, was relatively unknown when she signed up for the first series.
By contrast Smith, 35, was famous globally for playing Doctor Who.
Foy won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II over two seasons of the Netflix series. She was reportedly paid £30,000 an episode.
Producers have now vowed to end the gender pay gap for the new series — where Olivia Coleman replaces Foy as Her Maj.
Suzanne Mackie pledged: “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen.”
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The pay revelation emerged during a talk with Mackie and fellow executive producer Andy Harries at a media conference in Jerusalem.
The Crown has a lavish budget, the pair said, with the first series costing around £100million. Last year Foy said: “You couldn’t have made the show on a budget.
“There’s no way of doing it, and I think that’s what Netflix signed up for — to make something ambitious, expansive and vast.”