Hilary Barry drops C-bomb on Seven Sharp during Olivia Colman interview

Hilary Barry chatted about swearing and double standards with The Crown's Olivia Colman on Seven Sharp. Photo / Hilary Barry

Seven Sharp host Hilary Barry “couldn’t believe it” when she found herself swapping swear words on air with The Crown’s Olivia Colman during an interview.

Colman stars in newly-released film Wicked Little Letters, a movie based on a true story that’s been described as “scandalously sweary” thanks to the number of expletives said on screen.

Speaking to Barry during in an interview about what drew her to the role, Colman said: “I thought it was funny, and I thought it’d be really fun to do”.

Colman also revealed she and her co-star Jessie Buckley “swear at each other for free, so we might as well do it and get paid”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hilary Barry (@hilary.barry)

Contrary to popular belief, British society in the 1920s, when the film is set, was “foul-mouthed”, Colman revealed — though men and women were held to different standards.

“There’s still double standards with swearing. You still meet women who think it’s ‘unladylike’, which is a phrase that needs to be buried.”

Barry posed the question whether Wicked Little Letters might be the “sweariest movie of all time”, before revealing that despite the number of expletives in the film, it actually isn’t.

The top three “sweariest” movies are in fact Swearnet: The Movie, F***, a documentary, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Barry admitted she didn’t know how many “c***s” were dropped in the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring film, before adding: “I can’t believe I’m saying these words with Olivia Colman”, to which the star responded: “It’s so much fun, isn’t it?”

The BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning actor is known for her role on long-running TV series Broadchurch, as well as The Favourite and her turn as Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown.

Colman said she and her co-stars regularly got the giggles on set.

“We did have too much fun making it ... the swearing is real, it really happened.”

Last year, she admitted The Crown has become “more uncomfortable” to watch over time.

However, she loved her time on the show and praised showrunner Peter Morgan on an episode of The News Agents podcast.

“I feel uncomfortable answering questions about whether or not The Crown should have stopped before now because I loved the job. It was a great job.

“I’m not a spokesperson for the royal family, don’t know them. I can understand, I can feel that maybe it’s too close to home now.”