The Crown star Gillian Anderson calls Margaret Thatcher 'absolutely fascinating'
In an interview with The Guardian, actress Gillian Anderson has spoken about playing Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. It was confirmed this week that the X-Files and Sex Education star will portray the polarizing British prime minister in season 4 of Netflix’s British royal family drama.
In the interview, Anderson describes Thatcher as “absolutely fascinating. Mostly because of her childhood. You could draw such a clear line from how she was raised and what she was exposed to in their religion, and how she was raised in the shop, and how she worked, and their work ethic and their beliefs. Just everything that came later stems so entirely from her childhood. But that in and of itself is fascinating, and — I’m not going to use the word forgivable, but one can find compassion.”
Anderson also admits to have fallen in love, to some extent, with her character.
“To a certain degree, it’s very helpful for an actor, at least in my experience, to slightly fall in love with the character you’re playing, regardless of what your opinion might be of them, if it’s a historical character, particularly,” she says. “So I have.”
Finally, Anderson revealed that she has seen season 3 of The Crown, which premieres Nov. 17, and is the first to star Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth.
“I’ve seen the third season, and she’s amazing,” says the actress.
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