The Crown’s Gillian Anderson has said she had to put her own views about Margaret Thatcher out of her mind when she portrayed the former prime minister in the upcoming Netflix series.
The actress has joined the royal bio-series as the politician, who gets under the skin of Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman) as the series covers the 80s through to the beginning of the 90s.
Having taken on the role of the Iron Lady for the fourth series of the royal hit Sex Education star Anderson has opened up to Harper’s Bazaar on wanting to capture the politician as a ‘human being’.
She told the magazine: ‘I had to get to a point where it’s nothing to do with my opinions of her policies, of her actions.’
The 52-year-old continued: ‘It is only about her as a human being and her motivation as a politician and as a mother.’
Anderson also discussed working with her partner Peter Morgan, who created the series (which will be landing on the streaming platform later this month).
The pair, who have been together since 2016, established ‘clear boundaries’ in order to avoid a double whammy on-set and at-home argument.
She said: ‘For our sanity, and actually for the benefit of the relationship, we had very clear boundaries: “I am not going to comment on the script, but you are not allowed to comment on the performance.”‘
The former star of The X-Files said she is good at ‘compartmentalising’ her life and is able to switch off from her roles.
Anderson, a mother of three, went on: ‘I think I learnt that quite young, being a young mother, in a really intense TV series where it was either full on on-set, or I was in my trailer having to shut the door and no longer be that person but be mum.’
Speaking about taking on the role of Thatcher previously, Anderson said we’re about to get a look behind the curtain of the conservative leader – who has become known in history for her resolute demeanour.
Speaking to RadioTimes, Gillian said: ‘We certainly see another side of Thatcher that has more of an emotional life than perhaps has been seen before.
‘For instance, in terms of the episodes where her son goes missing. That is grounded, well-founded and well-documented emotion that she was experiencing at that time, so it doesn’t feel like it’s out of order in a way.
‘It’s a whole portrait. It’s not a one-dimensional portrait.’
The December issue of Harper’s Bazaar is on sale from Thursday.
The Crown series 4 lands on Netflix November 15.
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