It’s the passing of the torch for the role of Prince Philip in the Netflix series The Crown, and Matt Smith has some words of wisdom for Tobias Menzies, who will play the Duke of Edinburgh in his middle years. Smith’s co-star, Claire Foy, who played Queen Elizabeth opposite him, is also passing on the tiara to Olivia Colman for Seasons 3 and 4.
Smith is passing along some research tips and also recommendations for keeping peace on the set amongst your co-workers.
Town & Country quoted Smith, who said he had a chance to talk to Menzies.
“I said a few things to him. I told him a good book to read by Philip Eade called Young Prince, which is very good.”
The Hollywood Reporter says that another tip Smith had for Menzies was about the pay scale. The former Prince Philip first joked and told him not to do it, and then said if he takes the part, make sure everyone is paid fairly.
“God, make sure they pay you enough … and make sure it’s even.”
It was after Season 2 wrapped that it was discovered that Matt Smith was paid more to play Prince Philip than Claire Foy was paid to portray Queen Elizabeth.
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When the word got out that Matt Smith was paid more, essentially for less work, initially the production company said it was because Smith had just come from playing the Doctor in Doctor Who , and Claire Foy was not as well known. But Foy had played Anne Boleyn in the PBS series Wolf Hall, so it wasn’t as if she was unknown.
The Crown producer Suzanne Mackie said that in light of the information, it has been determined that in the future, nobody will ever make more than the queen.
“Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen.”
The production company, Left Bank Productions, made the decision to make things up to Foy and pay her as much as Smith made for Seasons 1 and 2 of The Crown .
Mackie and the production team released a statement that confirmed that Smith had made the top salary on The Crown .
“The producers acknowledged that [Smith] did make more due to his Doctor Who fame, but that they would rectify that for the future.”
Season 3 of The Crown will not start streaming until 2019 as the cast transition delayed shooting by two months. The new season should debut in January or February.