{"id":14599,"date":"2017-11-06T17:20:50","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T22:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/?p=14599"},"modified":"2018-02-23T18:28:59","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T23:28:59","slug":"actress-claire-foy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/fr\/2017\/11\/06\/actress-claire-foy\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes with Actress Claire Foy"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, actresses cast to play Queen Elizabeth II have struggled to get it right, and the assumptions that come with this regal role are greater than the crown jewels themselves. At the age of 91, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary \u2014 known to most as England\u2019s monarch for 64 years \u2014 has amassed more opinions and judgments from the world than any living pop star or leading lady.<\/p>\n

An easy route to playing the British sovereign is to interpret every situation she\u2019s had with the reserve and bite you\u2019d expect from a Disney villain. In other words, many actresses choose to mirror the same clich\u00e9s of Liz\u2019s queendom that the press has perpetuated, exemplifying a fierce and impassive portrait of a ruler whose life was turned upside down, at the age of 25, when her father died and left her the throne.<\/p>\n

Luckily for Netflix \u2014 which has spent more than $200 million to make a royal family- focused series called The Crown <\/em>\u2014 actress Claire Foy has never been one to take the easy road. Aside from its collection of meticulously crafted royal replicas (think china patterns and down-to-the-last-detail furnishings) and its 20,000-plus costume count, the show has been able to do more than make a mark on TV. With Foy at the helm, it has also changed the way the public views the Queen\u2019s narrative. Foy\u2019s skills have brought viewers to a place where they feel deep compassion for one of the most powerful women in history.<\/p>\n

Interviewed while she was at Lancaster House in London \u2014 the opulent mansion next to Buckingham Palace and now a venue for special government and corporate events, as well as the space doubling as the Queen\u2019s HQ in The Crown <\/em>\u2014 Foy describes how her character preparation took nearly a lifetime to perfect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing is, if you\u2019re English, you\u2019ve grown up with the Queen,\u201d says Foy. \u201cYou\u2019ve spent so much of your life with her during major events. You\u2019re so aware of her.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Some actors would have taken this knowledge as enough fuel to fire a performance, but the 33-year-old Brit felt that more homework was needed. \u201cThe public aspect of her life, I felt like I knew quite well, especially how [she] behaves during occasions. What happens behind closed doors \u2013 you don\u2019t know about. There are books like Crawfie\u2019s, which I read, among other books,\u201d she says, referring to The Little Princesses: The Story of the Queen\u2019s Childhood<\/em>, a biography written by the Queen\u2019s nanny, Marion Crawford. \u201cOther than that, there are very few reliable sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike any of Foy\u2019s other roles \u2014 save for the time she was miscast as the Italian wife of Maziar Bahari in Rosewater<\/em>, a film about the Iranian-Canadian journalist and human rights activist who ended up a prisoner in Iran (\u201cThat [casting] was ridiculous!\u201d she admits) \u2014 the character she portrays in The Crown <\/em>is still very much alive and visible. It would depend on whom you talk to, but the Queen is still seen as one of those people responsible for the United Kingdom\u2019s welfare and safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s amazing, and my respect for her has grown,\u201d says Foy of her post-Crown connection to the Queen. \u201cThe more I do this, the more I realize that the job she\u2019s done is extraordinary. Very few people alive today have been around to witness and be a part of the kind of socio, economic and political change as she has. She\u2019s seen it all. To have such access to the leaders of the world is extraordinary. She\u2019s been in the thick of it without really having an influence. She\u2019s absorbed it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Foy wasn\u2019t expecting was that her own views of the Queen would undergo a complete re-evaluation. \u201cOn a human level, the thing I understand as much as I possibly can is that she lost her father when she was so young. With that came huge responsibility and a huge job she wasn\u2019t prepared for or expecting,\u201d Foy says. \u201cShe had two young children, and all of a sudden the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She couldn\u2019t really grieve for [her father]. Her life was cut short. I suppose a lot of people would say, \u2018You became the queen of England! Hurrah!\u2019<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something quite unsettling about that to me. I feel a lot of sympathy for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most challenging scenes of Foy\u2019s career is The Crown<\/em>\u2019s long coronation re- enactment, as it gives viewers an intimate look at the responsibilities the Queen assumed at a young age. \u201cHaving the composure to walk through the entire abbey of dignitaries and heads of state while you are this young woman being anointed and connected to God? It takes gumption,\u201d Foy points out.<\/p>\n

The thought of having such a formidable force watching you relive her memories \u2014 including the royal family\u2019s relationship with John and Jackie Kennedy \u2014 which will be touched upon during season 2 of The Crown <\/em>\u2014 would be daunting for the strongest of thespians. Yet Foy feels differently about the fact that the royals could be watching her every on-screen move.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go into it with good intentions and hope that no one thinks you ripped them to shreds, then I think you\u2019ll be ok. I didn\u2019t feel like walking in and doing a queenly impersonation…. It would have just been against what The Crown <\/em>is about.\u201d she says. \u201cTo be honest, [the Queen] will take my performance with a pinch of salt,\u201d she says. \u201cTo her, it\u2019s no stranger than having her face on the front page of the newspaper or having someone write something about her in the newspaper. She\u2019s a right cracker!\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up, Foy will add several films to her extensive film credits, among them, Breathe, <\/em>which is based on the life of Diana Cavendish, the wife of Robin Cavendish, a British advocate for the disabled and a historic medical-aid developer who developed the first wheelchair with a built-in respirator. In Breathe, <\/em>Foy felt the pull of obligation once again….<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who are alive and watching you play them don\u2019t want to see you doing it whimsically,\u201d she says. \u201cThey want to see someone doing a realistic portrayal… To me, acting means you have a responsibility to that person,\u201d she says, \u201cand it all has to be truthful.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/div>\n
\n
\n

By Elio Iannacci – *This article originally appeared in INSIGHT: The Art of Living | Winter 2017<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo: Broadimage\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For years, actresses cast to play Queen Elizabeth II have struggled to get it right, and the assumptions that come with this regal role are greater than the crown jewels themselves. At the age of 91, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary \u2014 known to most as England\u2019s monarch for 64 years \u2014 has amassed more opinions and judgments from the world than any living pop star or leading lady.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":14601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[682,683,331,371,409,483,664,681],"class_list":["post-14599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insight-magazine","tag-the-crown","tag-netflix","tag-sothebys","tag-sothebys-international-realty-canada","tag-insight-magazine","tag-insight-the-art-of-living","tag-insight-winter-2017","tag-claire-foy"],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Scenes with Actress Claire Foy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Actress Claire Foy reveals how she's redefining royalty onscreen.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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