Gillian Anderson hits back at complaints about 'The Crown,' says it could've been 'much worse'

Gillian Anderson who recently received a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for her portrayal of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Crown," does not approve of the criticism against the hit Netflix show.

The fourth season of the historical drama, which is based on the reign of England's Queen Elizabeth II, dropped on the streaming giant in October last year. The new season introduced the characters of Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher and covered several controversial chapters of the British royals' lives. It received criticism by some for portraying the family and the late Thatcher in a bad light while Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden demanded a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode so that viewers don't confuse it with facts.

However, Netflix refused to add a disclaimer noting that it has always presented the series as "a work of fiction broadly based on historical events." Gillian Anderson also agrees with the decision and believes that those portrayed in the series had it relatively easy as there were much worse controversial plotlines the series could have covered.

The 52-year-old, who recently split from the show's creator Peter Morgan, told InStyle about the controversy: "It's so obvious that we're doing a TV show and that these are characters based on real-life people. To me, it just felt like drama for the sake of drama. But I get that there are a lot of people invested."

While Anderson received a ton of praise for her impressive portrayal of the Iron Lady, some criticised the show for not showing the kindness of the former prime minister. The actress said about the criticism of the show: "Yes, there's a lot of stuff that could have been written about — but was not — that is so much worse than what ended up in the show. There has been kindness extended in certain areas where it didn't have to be."

Anderson's co-star, Emma Corrin, who portrayed Princess Diana on the show also previously spoke against the demands of a disclaimer, calling it a "disservice to the show."

"We can know that Diana and Camilla went to a restaurant called Menage A Trois, which is hysterically ironic, but it happened, but we obviously don't know what was said, so that is fiction. But that's how a lot of series operate. It's mad that they want to label it as "fiction" when you have Diana: In Her Own Words where she talks about everything, and it's much more harrowing," said the 25-year-old. She also earlier defended showing Diana's struggles with bulimia on the show noting that the late "People's Princess" had herself opened up about in her interviews.