Erin Doherty attends the New York Screening of Prime Video’s “Chloe” at the Whitby Hotel on June 09, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dominik Bindl/Getty Images for Amazon Studios)
Erin Doherty, largely known for her role of Princess Anne in The Crown, has spoken out about the importance of being a “visible gay woman”.
In an interview with the New York Times, Doherty addressed a number of important topics, including her sexuality.
“There are things that I do want to be a part of,” she explained. “Being a visible gay woman is really important to me, and I really want people to know that.”
The Crown star first met her partner, fellow actress Sophie Melville, in 2017. They were starring in The Divide, a play written by Alan Ayckbourn, which follows the story of two siblings in a post-catastrophic landscape world who fall in love with the same woman.
Their relationship is one the actress deeply cherishes. During an Audible Questionnaire, Doherty said that her greatest achievement was her relationship with Melville.
After the pair met, it wasn’t until 2019 that Doherty posted a photo of them as a couple on her social media. Although the actress wants to be out and proud, she admitted that she finds being in the public eye “jarring”.
Candidly talking about red carpet events, Erin Doherty added that “the extravagance of it is quite unnerving”.
Being under online scrutiny and the way users perceive you is something that Doherty channels in her latest role.
Doherty stars in British drama Chloe, a psychological thriller about a woman who assumes a new identity to try and break free of her drab life. The reason for the change is after obsessively watching an old friend’s seemingly perfect life on social media, with Doherty’s character always comparing herself to others.
Creator, Alice Seabrights, has talked about how “the image of someone can loom over your life, even if you’ve never met them, or very rarely meet them”, which is a sentiment Doherty can relate to, especially playing as her character, Becky.
Reminiscing about her own personal relationships with people, Erin Doherty admitted that people “overwhelm” her. She told the New York Times: “I love people, but I think I get overwhelmed by how much of an impact they can have on your life.”
She added that she thinks it’s “really easy to become hooked on things, on people, on outlooks”, despite the fact that people all have an “inner world” that contrasts with what’s shown on social media.