The Crown’s Erin Doherty reveals she has refused offers for other upper-class characters to avoid being typecast after playing Princess Anne
- Erin Doherty, from Crawley, played Princess Royal in two seasons of the drama
- The 29-year-old actress has refused offers to play other upper-class characters
- Actress says she learned a lot from portraying the steely, straight-talking royal
The Crown’s Erin Doherty has turned down other upper-class roles to avoid being typecast after playing Princess Anne in the Netflix series.
The 29-year-old actress, who won critical acclaim for her portrayal of the young Princess Royal – said that while she ‘loved’ playing Princess Royal in the third and fourth season of the royal drama but that she is now deliberately distanced herself from similar characters.
Erin, who was raised in Crawley, West Sussex added that while it was ‘nerve-wracking’ to turn down work, she took a ‘gamble’ and declined offers to play various upper-crust characters.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, she said: ‘A lot of upper-class characters came my way after playing Anne, and I said no because I didn’t want to be stuck doing that. ‘
The Crown’s Erin Doherty says she had refused upper-class roles to avoid being typecast after playing Princess Anne in the Netflix series (pictured)
Erin, who was raised in Crawley, said while it was ‘nerve-wracking’ to turn down work, she took a ‘gamble’. She is pictured attending the premiere for season three of The Crown in London in 2019
The actress, who knew very little about the Princess before landing the part, says she learned a lot from portraying the steely royal – famous for her frankness and headstrong personality.
‘Anne taught me you have to care less about people’s opinions’, said Erin.
Worlds away from Princess Anne, Erin’s next role will see her portray the protagonist in upcoming psychological BBC drama, Chloe.
She portrays Becky, a woman from Bristol caring for her dementia stricken mother, who compares her life to the picture-perfect existences of the Instagram influencers she follows.
The actress, who knew very little about the Princess before landing the part, says she learned a lot from portraying the steely royal – famous for her frankness and headstrong personality
Worlds away from Princess Anne, Erin’s next role will see her portray the protagonist in upcoming psychological BBC drama, Chloe. Pictured, the cast of the forthcoming BBC show
Becky quickly becomes obsessed with influencer Chloe Fairbourne (Poppy Gilbert) and takes on a new identity to investigate after discovering she has mysteriously died.
Opening up about her own relationship with social media, Erin she ‘assessed existential questions’ after being thrust into the spotlight following her role in The Crown.
‘Why do I do this job, what would the perfect future for me look like? For me it’s that I love my job and it’s as simple as that’, she said.
The actress previously opened up about her love for Anne’s courage and candour, much of which she believes comes from not having a typical ‘mother figure’ during her childhood.
The actress, pictured attending the US premiere of The Crown in 2019, previously opened up about her love for Anne’s courage and candour
The series is critical in its dramatisation of the Queen’s parenting of her daughter, with the monarch – played by Olivia Colman – boasting of leaving her and Charles alone as young children for five months during her and Philip’s tour of Australia in 1954.
Speaking to The Times, Erin said: ‘My choice… was to make [Anne’s steeliness] come from this childhood of not having that mother figure there as you would have wished. You kind of go, ‘Well, that’s fine. If that person isn’t there, I don’t need one’.’
She added: ‘I think Olivia does an amazing job at portraying [the Queen], but I think that is what’s fascinating about them. This family is completely circulating around this woman who needs to do this thing that she does, but it actually completely detaches her from the beating heart that is a family.’
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