Actress Gillian Anderson hits back at The Crown report: ‘Absolute bollocks’

Gillian Anderson – whose portrayal of Margaret Thatcher earned her critical acclaim – has hit back at a claim surrounding her exit from the series. Photo / Getty Images

Actress Gillian Anderson has furiously hit back at claims that The Crown was “thrown into chaos” by her refusal to return for its final season.

Multiple outlets recently reported that scripts for the highly acclaimed Netflix series had to be “rewritten” after producers were unable to secure the British star’s appearance as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for the sixth and final chapter.

But on Monday, Anderson, 54, addressed the speculation directly, retweeting an article about her “refusal” to return and captioning it: “Absolute bollocks”.

Absolute bollocks https://t.co/MBh4XdzruD

— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) April 10, 2023

The former X-Files actress won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her season four portrayal of the Iron Lady, and had - according to the reports - turned down an offer to reprise the role because of “scheduling issues”.

It was previously claimed that scriptwriters had been hoping to include Thatcher in an episode covering Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s golden wedding anniversary.

“Gillian’s portrayal of Thatcher was met with global critical acclaim and she was a huge asset to The Crown,” a source told the Sun.

“It had been hoped she would be able to make an appearance in scenes around the golden wedding but sadly that has not been the case due to scheduling issues.

“As ever with the series, clever scripting will mean viewers will be none the wiser.

“But it’s been another blow for producers in what’s already been a fairly dogged production.”

Season six of the Netflix royal drama depicts the events leading up to Diana, Princess of Wales’ 1997 death.

The Crown – one of Netflix’s biggest hits – was initially set to end after five seasons, however, because of demand and the complexity of the storylines a sixth and final series was added.