Producers of Netflix’s The Crown are hoping for a royal pardon from their series’ stars.
“We want to apologize to both Claire Foy and to Matt Smith, brilliant actors and friends, who have found themselves at the center of a media storm this week through no fault of their own,” Left Bank Pictures, which produces the period drama, said via statement Tuesday.
Left Bank is referring to the fallout from comments made last week by Crown executive producer Suzanne Mackie, who revealed that Foy, who plays Queen Elizabeth and was the face of the series for Seasons 1 and 2, was paid less than co-star Matt Smith, who plays Prince Philip but went into the role with a higher profile.
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“As the producers of The Crown, we at Left Bank Pictures are responsible for budgets and salaries; the actors are not aware of who gets what, and cannot be held personally responsible for the pay of their colleagues,” the statement to our sister site Deadline says, adding that they are “absolutely united with the fight for fair pay, free of gender bias, and for a re-balancing of the industry’s treatment of women, both those in front of the camera and for those behind the scenes.”
Here’s the statement in full:
We want to apologize to both Claire Foy and to Matt Smith, brilliant actors and friends, who have found themselves at the center of a media storm this week through no fault of their own. Claire and Matt are incredibly gifted actors who, along with the wider cast on The Crown have worked tirelessly to bring our characters to life with compassion and integrity.
As the producers of The Crown, we at Left Bank Pictures are responsible for budgets and salaries; the actors are not aware of who gets what, and cannot be held personally responsible for the pay of their colleagues.
We understand and appreciate the conversation which is rightly being played out across society and we are absolutely united with the fight for fair pay, free of gender bias, and for a re-balancing of the industry’s treatment of women, both those in front of the camera and for those behind the scenes.
We all have a responsibility to do what we can to ensure that these issues are tackled, and as a leading production company we want to make our contribution to the debate. So, we are now going to be in talks with the Time’sUp UK campaign and ERA 50:50; organizations which are working to ensure all women have a voice.
