She more than held her own against the likes of Olivia Colman in The Crown. Now the actor is the star of her own drama about a down-at-heel temp addicted to Instagram – a role that’s a bit too familiar, she says
The last time Erin Doherty was meant to do a big interview with the Guardian, she got out of it by faking an illness and sending her grandmother, an eccentric nun, along instead. Admittedly, Doherty was in character at the time, playing Princess Anne as a sarky 16-year-old in The Crown, annoyed with her father’s plan to salvage the royals’ reputation by showcasing her, his headstrong, no-nonsense daughter. Unfortunately, his headstrong, no-nonsense daughter would not comply.
So it does feel quite satisfying to finally pin Doherty down, even if we are Zooming from our homes rather than tête-à-tête-ing amid the gilded majesty of Buckingham Palace, as the fictional journalist in the Netflix hit did. “I’m having a great time!” grins Doherty, her perkiness and high-pitched estuary accent so different from the deep, hyper-posh drawl she used for Anne. But perhaps we should get used to it – now that the 29-year-old is appearing in a new genre-bending BBC One drama called Chloe, in which she plays down-at-heel temp Becky, a woman who is – vocally, at least – much closer to the real Doherty.
