Gillian Anderson was “really f****** nervous” about playing Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Crown’.
Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher in The Crown
The 52-year-old actress has earned herself both a SAG Award nomination and a Golden Globe nod for her work as the former UK prime minister in the hit Netflix series, which chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II and her family.
But despite the critical acclaim she’s received for the role, Gillian has admitted she was terrified about taking on the project at first.
She explained: “I was really f****** nervous. At the same time, it’s a wonderful production run by adults who have done it before. They shoot the first two weeks of stuff for any big new character on the soundstages. It was comforting to know that if I sucked, it would be easy to reshoot as opposed to renting a countryside mansion for another day because I was bad.
“I had an intense scene on my first day of work, and I knew that even if I did my absolute best, I’d probably be a bit more in her shoes, her voice, her everything, a few weeks down the road. It made it easier to have that safety net in case I wasn’t quite there at the beginning.”
Gillian also confessed she found it tough to nail Thatcher’s infamous curtsy while greeting Queen Elizabeth II – who was played by Olivia Colman – because she lacked the “strong thighs” needed to hold the pose.
She said: “In order to do that, one needs good balance and a certain degree of musculature in one’s thighs. I don’t feel like I have particularly strong thighs. I’m not sure I even knew I could do that prior to the scene.”
The ‘X Files’ alum worked particularly hard on getting Thatcher’s voice just right, and hopes she was able to pull it off.
She told InStyle magazine: “I worked very hard on the voice, specifically. It needed to be a particular pitch and way of talking that felt like it would be natural and grounded somewhere in me, and also one that I could keep consistent.”
Gillian’s nods will see her battle for a SAG Award against her own co-stars, Olivia Colman and Emma Corrin – who plays Princess Diana – whilst at the Golden Globes, she’ll go head-to-head against Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Princess Margaret.
Josh O’Connor has also been recognised at both ceremonies for his role as Prince Charles.