The Crown star Claire Foy reveals knowledge Doctor Who’s Matt Smith shared on dealing with fame

"You can't control what other people think of you, ever."

By Sam Warner

3 Jan 2023

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The Crown star Claire Foy has opened up about the knowledge that co-star Matt Smith gave her on dealing with fame.

The actress famously became a household name after starring in the first two seasons of the Netflix Royal drama as Queen Elizabeth II.

Speaking in a new interview about finding fame, Foy admitted she was "lucky" that she didn't break out at the start of her career a decade beforehand.

"I'd been working for like 10 years by the time I got The Crown, so I did feel a bit long in the tooth when it happened. [Laughs] I was a bit like, 'So what?' I had got to a point in my career where I was just like, 'Well, that's not gonna happen for me,'" she told Collider.

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"I mean, I don't know who that happens to. It was a pretty extraordinary experience. But I was very lucky that it wasn't at the beginning of my career. I was very lucky I wasn't overwhelmed by it or took it too seriously, basically. Or personally!

"So it was amazing, but I also very much had my own life and knew how to do my job by that point, so I was very lucky."

Reflecting on speaking with Smith – who found overnight success early on in his career in Doctor Who – Foy continued: "He already had it because he'd done Doctor Who and he said, 'What I think is really interesting about it is that everybody thinks you've changed, but you've [stayed] exactly the same. It's just everyone's opinion of you has changed, you know? Everybody around you suddenly thinks of you differently and you think of yourself the same.'

the crown season 2 matt smith claire foy

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"I understand that that might be like, 'That's not difficult,' but there is something to navigate about that because you still have all the same opinions and insecurities or beliefs about yourself and then suddenly everybody else thinks of you now differently, that you apparently move through the world in a different way even though you still feel exactly the same," she added.

"I think the thing is not to fight it. You can't control what other people think of you, ever, so you may as well just be in charge of your own life.”

The Crown seasons 1-5 are streaming on Netflix. Seasons 1-4 are also available on DVD and Blu-ray.