Claire Foy Calls Out Director Of Iconic Supernatural Series
Claire Foy recently revealed on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast that she felt bullied by her director on the pilot of Being Human. Foy said that she got the note to “start acting, darling” while on set and expanded on her feelings, saying, “Instead of taking them under your wing and helping them, just shouting at them in front of everyone … Sometimes not very nice directors need someone to bully on set and I was like that person.”
While Foy did not name any names, the person who is credited as the director of the pilot is Declan O’Dwyer.
“It’s taken me a long time to accept that it was actually a very unkind thing to do to a 23-year-old on their first job ever.”
Claire Foy on her treatment from the Being Human pilot director
Although Claire Foy did not continue on Being Human beyond the pilot episode, the series became a big hit for BBC Three. The series followed Andrea Riseborough as a ghost named Annie Sawyer, Russell Tovey as a werewolf named George Sands, and Guy Flanagan as a vampire named John Mitchell. The three supernatural beings shared a flat in the series and tried to fit into the normal human world despite their supernatural status.
At this time, Declan O’Dwyer has not commented on Claire Foy’s claims about the pilot episode of Being Human. In the meantime, Foy is promoting her new film All of Us Strangers, which co-stars Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, and Jamie Bell. The film is directed by Andrew Haigh, and based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada.
“Instead of taking them under your wing and helping them, just shouting at them in front of everyone … Sometimes not very nice directors need someone to bully on set and I was like that person.”
Claire Foy
All of Us Strangers follows the relationship between a screenwriter named Adam and his neighbor Harry. Adam’s relationship draws him back to his childhood home, where he discovers his parents are living there the same way they did when they died 30 years ago. Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal play Adam and Harry, while Claire Foy and Jamie Bell play Adam’s parents.
While Claire Foy didn’t end up playing a role in Being Human, she did break onto the acting scene in 2008 when she starred in the BBC One miniseries Little Dorrit. She followed up this miniseries with her first film performance in 2011’s Season of the Witch.
While Claire Foy may have had a rough experience in the pilot for Being Human, she has since carved an interesting career for herself on TV and film.
Foy is likely best known for her work in the Netflix series The Crown, where she portrays Queen Elizabeth II, a role which has earned her numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Claire Foy has also starred in numerous TV series outside of the pilot of Being Human and her star-making role in The Crown. Other notable TV roles from Foy include her performances in The Promise, The Night Watch, and Wolf Hall. She has also starred in films like Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane, Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, and 2022’s Women Talking.
While Claire Foy may have had a rough experience in the pilot for Being Human, she has since carved an interesting career for herself on TV and film. It seems like All of Us Strangers will be the latest film that she can add to her accolades, as it is receiving tons of critical acclaim and was already named one of the top ten independent films of 2023 by the National Board of Review. If you’re interested in checking out the film for yourself, you can catch it now in theaters.
