What Margaret Thatcher's Voice Really Sounded Like, Since All 'Crown' Fans Want to Know
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Donning a starched coiff and padded shoulders out to there, Emmy Award winner Gillian Anderson of The X-Files is nearly unrecognizable in Season 4 of The Crown, where she plays the imperturbable Margaret Thatcher.
Her measured, deep voice, however, is perhaps the most powerful part of Anderson's transformation into the famed Iron Lady for Peter Morgan's Netflix series. The unique tone and cadence sounds theatrical — almost over exaggerated — to those less familiar with the former prime minister. Take a look back at Thatcher's real speaking voice and it's clear that the imitiation is fairly spot-on, though.
Margaret Thatcher's Voice
Thatcher's distinctive timbre is often traced back to elocution lessons that the Conservative Party leader received during the middle of her career. Politics aside, it remains one of her most defining characteristics in addition to the cobalt blue power suits and meticulously shaped hairstyles she wore.
From her start in politics, Thatcher often attracted sexist critiques for the way she spoke, with many it dubbing her voice "shrill" and "patronizing." Television critic Clive James even compared it to "a cat sliding down a blackboard" in 1973.
In an effort to improve her public image, Thatcher had previously sought guidance from television producer Gordon Reece on her wardrobe and hair. When Reese ran into famed actor Laurence Olivier on the train from Brighton one day, he also sought help for her voice. Olivier agreed to arrange lessons for Thatcher with the National Theatre's speech coach, according to Vanity Fair.
From there, Thatcher started striking a different tone. In addition to lowering her pitch quite dramatically, she also spoke much more slowly and enunciated. By the time she became Prime Minister in 1979, those professional elocution lessons had produced the distinctive speaking style recreated on The Crown. Hear the transformation for yourself in this clip featuring two interviews with Thatcher from early on and then later in her career:
Gillian Anderson's Portrayal
When it came to portraying this formidable figure, Anderson sought to strike the right balance with her voice. "You’re trying not to mimic, because mimicking can sometimes feel shallow," Anderson said in the New York Times this month. "I was trying to find a place where the voice sat within my voice, so that it didn’t feel like it was too stretched or over the top, or like it was an impression or a parody."
Interestingly enough, Anderson is something of a vocal chameleon herself. Although born in Chicago, she spent her childhood shuttling between London and Michigan. The international upbringing made the actress bidialectal, meaning she can speak easily in two different accents. Typically, she speaks with an American accent when stateside and with a British accent when across the pond.
"I was in Los Angeles recently with a couple of Brits and I thought, 'I’m going to see what it’s like to talk among Americans with a British accent,' and I felt so uncomfortable," Anderson told The Guardian in 2017. "It felt so disingenuous, and I kept thinking they must think I’m a complete twat. But when I’m here, it’s nearly impossible for me to maintain an American accent."
The unique gift lent itself well to her turn on The Crown. Just like Olivia Colman's brilliant portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, Anderson's Thatcher brings recent history back to life.
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