Gillian Anderson says she and her partner — who created ‘The Crown’ — made a pact not to talk about the show at home

• “The Crown” star Gillian Anderson said she and her partner Peter Morgan, creator of the royal drama series, agreed not to discuss the show at home for the sake of their relationship.
• “I wasn’t allowed to talk with him or express opinions about the scripts, and he wasn’t allowed to express opinions about my performance,” Anderson, who plays former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher in season four of the Netflix drama, told TV Week.
• Anderson has previously extolled the benefits of living apart from her partner: “It works so well as it is – it feels so special when we do come together.”
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Gillian Anderson said she and her partner Peter Morgan agreed not to talk about “The Crown” for the sake of their relationship.

Anderson stars as the divisive former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher in season four of the royal Netflix drama, which Morgan created.

“We made a pact that we weren’t going to talk about it at all,” Anderson told TV Week in a recent interview. “I wasn’t allowed to talk with him or express opinions about the scripts, and he wasn’t allowed to express opinions about my performance.

“Somehow we managed to stick to it,” she added, “which is unbelievable because neither of us can keep from expressing our opinions the rest of the time!”

Anderson and Morgan have been dating since 2016. TV Week reports that Anderson lives with Morgan and two children from her previous relationship with British businessman Mark Griffiths (Oscar, 14, and Felix, 12) in London. She’s also a mother to a 25-year-old daughter, Piper.

However, Anderson has previously spoken about the benefits of "living apart together" with Morgan.

"My partner and I don't live together. If we did, that would be the end of us. It works so well as it is – it feels so special when we do come together," she told The Sunday Times at the start of the year before the pandemic affected the world.

She added: "There is nothing locking us in, nothing that brings up that fear of, 'Oh gosh, I can't leave because what will happen to the house, how will we separate?'

"I start to miss the person I want to be with, which is a lovely feeling."

Earlier this month, Anderson told Harper's Bazaar that when Morgan first saw her in her full Thatcher guise (which she said took around two hours of make-up to achieve), he said: "'This is Thatcher! This smile is Thatcher!' And I'm like, no! This smile is me!"

Season four of The Crown is now airing on Netflix.

Read more:

How 10 actors who have played Princess Diana compare to the royal

Here's what the cast of 'The Crown' looks like in real life

'The Crown' star Emma Corrin says Princess Diana's history is repeating itself with Meghan Markle