Matt Smith has spoken out against the gender pay gap following the revelation he was paid more than Claire Foy for their work in ‘The Crown’.
The pair played Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of the hit Netflix show and it recently emerged that Claire, 34, was paid significantly less per episode than former ‘Doctor Who’ star Matt, despite having more screen-time.
Matt, 35, told The Hollywood Reporter: "Claire is one of my best friends, and I believe that we should be paid equally and fairly and there should be equality for all. I support her completely, and I’m pleased that it was resolved and they made amends for it, because that what’s needed to happen. Going forward, I think we should all bear in mind that we need to strive to make this better and a more even playing field for everyone involved – but not just in our industry, in all industries."
Claire had previously admitted it felt "odd" to find herself the centre of a gender pay gap scandal.
She said: "I’m surprised because I’m at the centre of it, and anything that I’m at the centre of like that is very, very odd, and feels very, very out of ordinary.
"But I’m not [surprised about the interest in the story] in the sense that it was a female-led drama."
The pay gap emerged during Variety magazine’s talk with producer Suzanne Mackie and fellow executive producer Andy Harries at a media conference in Jerusalem.
The producers claim that rather than a gender issue, the pay gap came as Claire was an unknown actress when she accepted the lead role, whereas Matt had achieved global success for starring as the titular character in the long running sci-fi hit ‘Doctor Who’ from 2009 to 2013.
Matt Smith speaks out against gender pay gap
