Matt Smith Responds to Pay Gap Controversy

Etonline.com: Matt Smith has broken his silence on the pay disparity between himself and co-star Claire Foy on the Netflix show, The Crown.

News of that disparity -- in which Smith as Prince Phillip was paid more than Foy as the titular Queen Elizabeth II -- broke in the midst of the Time's Up movement, and led to the show producers to apologize to both actors and promise to remedy the pay gap moving forward.

Smith told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview on Sunday that he fully supports Foy and that critics of the show were correct to highlight the unfairness of the wage gap.

"Claire is one of my best friends, and I believe that we should be paid equally and fairly and there should be equality for all," he told the site. "I support her completely, and I'm pleased that it was resolved and they made amends for it, because that what's needed to happen. Going forward, I think we should all bear in mind that we need to strive to make this better and a more even playing field for everyone involved — but not just in our industry, in all industries."

Foy recently called the controversy "odd," adding that she holds Smith blameless in the situation.

"I know that Matt feels the same that I do, that it’s odd to find yourself at the center [of a story] that you didn’t particularly ask for," she said.

Both actors' roles have been recast with older for the upcoming season to depict the royals in a new era of their lives.

The producers of The Crown quickly apologized for the disparity and that going forward, with producer Suzanne Mackie saying that going forward, "no one gets paid more than the queen."