Scene-Stealing
With
Erin Doherty
After garnering rave reviews for her performance as Princess Anne in The Crown, what’s next for ERIN DOHERTY? Here, the British actor talks to HANNA HANRA about her latest role in psychological drama Chloe, sacrificing soccer for acting, her love of theater (not fame) and getting good cuddles from queen Olivia Colman
There are some actors who are so utterly chameleonic in their ability to inhabit a role – with a shift in accent or a slight repositioning of brow – that it becomes almost impossible to spot them out in the wild. Erin Doherty is one such actor. After transforming into Princess Anne for The Crown, her latest role in upcoming psychological drama Chloe sees her take the lead as Becky – a woman who reinvents herself with multiple personalities and accents. “I don’t get recognized,” Doherty insists, casting her eyes around the busy London coffee shop, “I just don’t.” Perhaps it’s because, out of character, she is a self-confessed introvert and has a South London twang but, with a burgeoning lineup of interesting roles to her name, it’s hard to believe that she will be able to fly under the radar so easily for much longer.
Playing the rebellious Princess Anne in The Crown was Doherty’s third TV role after leaving drama school. Being cast as a lead in a show that is watched by 73 million households might make you think you’ve been propelled into mega-stardom, but it pushed her to go in the other direction. “It made me assess fame really early on,” she says earnestly. “I was like, ‘What is this weird world? What is it that I like? What do I not like? How do I want to live?’ It made me realize I love acting and don’t want to stop doing theater.” Does she want to be a famous person? She looks at me as if I am mad. “Why would you want that? I want to walk down the street!”
“I grew up doing a lot of THEATER. If I’m on stage, I’m having a GREAT time. I have a good work ethic and that comes from LOVING what I do”
Born in Crawley, a suburban town just south of London, Doherty was drawn to both acting and soccer as a child. She and her older sister were encouraged by their parents to take up both, and it was only when her dad grew tired of ferrying her from one to the other on a Saturday afternoon that he made her choose. She decided to throw her all into acting. “I work hard because I bloody love it,” she says with a grin. Her first love is theater and being on stage is her favorite place. “You learn so much from the theater,” she continues. “I grew up doing a lot of it. If I’m on stage, I’m having a great time. I have a good work ethic and that comes from loving what I do.”
After a spell at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Doherty was cast in beloved BBC drama Call The Midwife and then The Crown. She didn’t know much about Princess Anne before she portrayed the royal throughout her twenties and thirties, taking the audience from the emotionally and politically turbulent mid-1960s to the similarly tumultuous mid-1980s.
“It was a lot, kicking off my CAREER with the BIGGEST show in the world. Initially the hardest part was acting OPPOSITE Olivia Colman – I was like, ‘It’s you!’”
She remembers the feelings of trepidation on set at being a relative newcomer to the industry. “I hadn’t done anything; it was a lot, kicking off my career with the biggest show in the world. But that feeling hasn’t gone.” Fortunately, she made friends fast, and particularly with her on-screen parents; “Olivia Colman [who played the Queen] is a good cuddle. Tobias Menzies [Prince Philip] is a good cuddle. Initially the hardest part was acting opposite Olivia Colman – I was like, ‘It’s you!’”
After her seasons wrapped, Doherty took some time off, “reading and drinking coffee and walking the dog”, before relocating to Bristol to shoot Chloe, a psychological thriller from the BBC and Amazon Prime Video, which has been written and directed by Alice Seabright (who directed some of Sex Education). Doherty’s character, Becky, is a troubled woman in her mid-twenties, who is working as a temp and living with her mother, who has early-onset dementia. Becky compares her life to the picture-perfect existences of the Instagram influencers she follows, compulsively returning to Chloe’s account. And when Chloe suddenly dies, Becky assumes a new life and different identities to infiltrate Chloe’s friendship circle and find out why.
Becky is a questionable protagonist. A compulsive liar, she flits between accents and can conjure a backstory on the spot. “I don’t find it scary playing [a character] that people might not like. It’s fine to take a risk,” Doherty explains. “I have no idea how it might be perceived but I feel creatively stimulated by her, and that’s important.”
Filming the six-part series was grueling. “I lost my mind a little bit – she had so many accents. I had to prep the scripts and then, when it came to filming, I had to segment it into days and weeks.” But creating order out of chaos is a comfortable place for Doherty, who says that she’s a bit of a control freak. “Being an actor helps me with that because you have to live life on the edge, otherwise I’d be overly regimented. It’s hard to plan things around work when you don’t know when an audition might come in. You have to be flexible; it’s a good way to live,” she considers.
Doherty is quite private – a quick scan of her Instagram account shows that it’s reserved for work – and, while she talks about her girlfriend, Sophie, the two of them aren’t pictured out and about together. “I’m so introverted, it’s wild,” Doherty beams. “I feel a bit sorry for people who grew up only on Instagram. I used to use MSN then turn off the computer and go downstairs and interact with people. Filming Chloe, I had to download Instagram and it made me depressed. I’d try and get up in the morning, then would just scroll and lose an hour.” Becky is out of touch with reality because her world is viewed entirely through her phone. She doesn’t think she has an impact on people in the real world. “Honestly, it made me feel shit about myself,” admits the actor.
After spending 2020’s lockdowns sharing a house with six others, Doherty bought her own place in a cool South London neighborhood with Sophie, also an actor (they met doing theater), and their dog Free, a rescued ‘jug’ (a cross between a pug and a Jack Russell). “Sophie and I don’t go up for the same roles, but we understand the limits of each other’s work. When a self-tape audition comes in, both of us are like, ‘Let’s drop everything and get it done.’” A favorite evening is spent at home with Sophie cooking dinner. “She’s made me so healthy. I used to sit at home eating a bag of chocolates and now we have like, a kale salad,” Doherty says, with an impish smile. Their TV preferences are broad, spanning Ru Paul’s Drag Race to Maid, Keeping Up With The Kardashians to I May Destroy You. “All of it – it’s the golden age of TV,” she says. Her absolute favorite is a little more domesticated. “I love The Great British Bake Off. I love baking. I’d love to be on it – I’d excel in the ‘sweet’ weeks. I’m a sweet-tooth woman,” she grins.
“I feel a bit sorry for PEOPLE who grew up only on Instagram… I’d try and get up in the MORNING, then would just scroll and lose an hour… HONESTLY, it made me feel shit about myself”
Since filming on Chloe ended last July, she’s barely worked – and it’s out of choice. “I think it’s good to spend some time settling. Especially when you’ve been in the frame of mind of someone who’s been on their phone 24 hours a day. Your equilibrium is off. I need to sit at home and read books and write for at least a month, so that I can be me again.”
This is particularly important given that, when Doherty is researching a character, she is meticulous in her process. “I want to know everything that’s happened to a person from birth to now,” she says. “I’m fascinated by therapy and psychology, why someone is the way they are. Making up a person is my favorite part of the job.” It’s no wonder, then, that she chooses roles that are complex and interesting women.
“I like people who are flawed… When someone like Becky comes along as a role, of course I am going to do that, because I’ve never seen someone like her on the screen before,” Doherty considers of what inspires her creatively. “I want to work and do good work. I don’t want to do things that aren’t right. If you’re not inspired, then what’s the point?”
Chloe will be available on BBC One & BBC iPlayer from February 6