Claire Foy, the acclaimed actress famed for portraying Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix's The Crown, has shared a deeply personal revelation about her lifelong relationship with mortality, shaped by significant health challenges in her youth.
A Childhood Shaped by Medical Challenges
In a candid new interview with The Times, the 41-year-old actor disclosed that she spent much of her life believing she would not live beyond the age of 40. This perspective was forged during a childhood marked by serious medical issues. At just 13 years old, Foy was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, a condition so severe it necessitated the use of crutches.
Her health struggles continued, with the discovery of a benign tumour behind one eye at age 17. This required surgery and a course of steroids. She described the cumulative effect of these conditions as causing periods of "horrible, debilitating" pain, fundamentally altering her view on life and death from an early age.
Confronting Mortality with 'Morbid' Immediacy
"I have thought about death my whole life," Foy told the publication. "I just presumed that it was going to happen, especially through my childhood. My thing was that I was never going to make it past 40 – ever."
She explained that this seemingly dark outlook paradoxically gifted her a more urgent and vibrant approach to living. "Being morbid isn't necessarily negative," Foy reflected. "It can mean that you are quite immediate, like 'Live every day as if it's your last!'"
This mindset led her to adopt a 'crack on' attitude. However, she also noted the later pressure of conventional life milestones, describing the middle-class expectation to have children and achieve career goals as something that can induce panic and create a dangerous cycle of chasing 'big moments'.
Finding Reassurance and Moving Forward
Now having passed the age she once feared she would not see, Foy finds a darkly humorous reassurance in a simple truth someone once shared with her: "'You know, most people live?'... people do tend to live. That's what humans want to do. We want to survive, and that's quite reassuring."
The actress, a two-time Emmy winner for her role in The Crown, is currently starring in the new film adaptation of Helen Macdonald's memoir, H is for Hawk. The project, which explores themes of grief, sees Foy share the screen with Brendan Gleeson, Sam Spruell and Denise Gough.
Her impressive filmography also includes notable roles in Women Talking, All of Us Strangers, and Unsane, cementing her status as one of the UK's most versatile and respected performers.
