Claire Foy reveals director who was “very unkind” to her on first acting job

Claire Foy has revealed how the director on her first major acting job was “very unkind” to her.

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The Crown star said the director of the BBC’s Being Human pilot made her feel “bullied” while filming the 2008 show.

Foy didn’t actually name the individual, but Declan O’Dwyer is credited as the director of the Being Human pilot episode.

Speaking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Foy accused O’Dwyer of bullying her and giving the “worst note” she has ever received from a director.

Foy claimed that he told her to “start acting, darling” as she filmed scenes as the character Julia. “I didn’t know what I was doing and he shouted it at me,” the Emmy-winning actress recalled.

She was being interviewed alongside her All of Us Strangers co-star Andrew Scott, who replied: “Oh that’s horrible.”

Foy added: “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.

“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.”

Foy went on to claim that O’Dwyer “doesn’t really work anymore,” to which Scott responded: “But you fucking do.”

Foy’s claim wasn’t entirely accurate, however, since O’Dwyer has been attached to a number of notable projects in recent years, including PBS series Miss Scarlet and The Duke. He was also Emmy nominated for Netflix’s Free Rein. He is now reportedly set to direct and executive produce Netflix’s adaptation of Holly Smale’s young adult book Geek Girl.

Foy was not cast in the full series of Being Human, which went on to become a cult hit for BBC3. The pilot episode also starred Andrea Riseborough. In the full series, the role of Julia was played by Natalie Brown.

In a 2019 interview with Andrew-Gower.co.uk, O’Dwyer reflected on working on the show. “I loved doing the pilot of Being Human. Claire Foy, Andrea Riseborough, Russell Tovey, Guy Flanagan and Adrian Lester, lovely lovely cast and a great script,” he said.

Foy, meanwhile, recently returned for the sixth and final season of The Crown, with her version of Queen Elizabeth II reappearing alongside Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton’s iterations of the late monarch.

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