The Crown’s Erin Doherty Felt “Pressure to Withhold” Sexuality After Landing Role
Erin Doherty won’t stay silent.
The actress, who played the young Princess Anne in seasons three and four of Netflix’s The Crown, opened up about her decision to go public with girlfriend and fellow actress Sophie Melville, saying that the fact that she questioned it was “gutting.”
“I won’t name names, but when I got The Crown, I felt a lot of pressure to withhold my sexuality,” she recently told U.K.’s The Telegraph. “There was a period of time when I was like, ‘Do I get to be open about this in order to have a successful career?'”
“I’m really aware of all the people who have lived years and years and years, either in shame or denial, or just hiding,” Doherty continued. “Actors, actresses definitely stopping it getting out there in order to have a career, and I just want to be a part of trying to do something about that.”
Doherty and Melville first met in 2017 while starring in The Divide, but Doherty didn’t confirm the relationship until 2019 when she posted a photograph of the two on social media.
