The Crown actress Meg Bellamy is opening up about the toll of playing Princess Kate Middleton.
Bellamy, 21, played a younger version of Kate in the sixth and final season of the Netflix drama last year as the show depicted the early romance between Prince William (played by Ed McVey) and his future wife at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
“I’d had this long day of press, it had gone well, then I went on my phone and there was all this negative stuff about my body online,” Bellamy said in an interview with the U.K. Mail on Sunday’s You magazine published on Sunday, June 23.
The actress noted that the general gist of the mean comments was, “You’re too fat to play Kate.”
“That was a glimpse into being a woman in this industry. I thought, ‘OK, that’s a sign to distance yourself because it doesn’t mean anything,’” Bellamy explained.
“You can’t listen to that sort of stuff,” she added, noting that the trolling typically came from “men called Gary who are holding a fish in their profile picture.”
“I’ve had so many amazing things happen to me. They’re the losers for saying that. I’m living my best life over here,” the actress said.
Before landing the role of Kate in The Crown, Bellamy had no previous television experience and was playing a snake in an attraction at the theme park Legoland in the U.K.
To prepare for the role, Bellamy watched “hours” of footage of Kate, according to You magazine.
‘I spent so much time ‘with’ her. You get this weird parasocial connection. She’s so gracious and wonderful and self-assured. I will always be fond of Kate,” said Bellamy.
Since the final episodes of The Crown dropped last December, the real Kate has announced that she is undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer. The Princess of Wales shared the news with the public in March amid weeks of intense speculation about her whereabouts.
“I so feel for her and for the family,” said Bellamy.
