Miranda Hart said there has got to be a change in the way actors are paid after it emerged Claire Foy earned less than Matt Smith for The Crown.
The creators of the Netflix drama have admitted that the Doctor Who star was paid more for his portrayal of the Duke of Edinburgh than Foy was for her Golden Globe-winning performance as the Queen.
Producers Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries acknowledged to US news outlet Variety that Smith’s previous starring role in Doctor Who meant he was paid more than Foy – who had appeared in a number of smaller British dramas including the BBC’s Wolf Hall, prior to The Crown.
Hart wrote on Twitter: “The archaic system that actors get paid more because they are more well known at start of a series has GOT to change.
The archaic system that actors get paid more because they are more well known at start of a series has GOT to change. The ‘lesser known’ may carry the show, work longer hours (list goes on) & this system invariably affects women more than men. Good on the producer for saying it.
— Miranda Hart (@mermhart) March 14, 2018
“The ‘lesser known’ may carry the show, work longer hours (list goes on); this system invariably affects women more than men. Good on the producer for saying it.”
Mackie has vowed that would not be the case in the third series, which sees Olivia Colman replace Foy as the Queen.
“Going forward, no-one gets paid more than the Queen,” she said.
Earlier this year actress Michelle Williams was paid a fraction of what her All The Money In The World co-star Mark Wahlberg earned for the movie’s reshoots.
Wahlberg donated his 1.5 million dollar (£1.1 million) pay cheque to Time’s Up for the work to scrub the disgraced Kevin Spacey from the film.
The donation came as he faced intense scrutiny when it was reported Williams received less than 1,000 dollars (£720).