The Crown’s Gillian Anderson lounges in a throne as she rocks full Margaret Thatcher costume

She impressed viewers with her very impressive portrayal of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in series four of The Crown.

And Gillian Anderson looked every inch the confident leader as she cheekily kicked up her feet and lounged across two thrones in a new behind-the-scenes snap.

The actress, 52, made herself comfortable in the plush red chair assigned for Olivia Colman’s character of the Queen and rested her legs over the arms.

Gillian wore a confident expression as she pouted for the camera and held onto her small black handbag.

The star looked smart in a grey skirt suit with a patterned scarf and a pair of black heels to complete her transformation into the politician. 

She captioned the cheeky image: ‘Just trying it out’. 

Since the Netflix series was released, Gillian has shared several glimpses into the casts time recording the show.

Last month she shared a video between takes of the Ibble Dibble scene – in which her character spends a weekend at Balmoral with the royal family, and is forced to take part in the parlour game.

While Thatcher finds herself feeling highly uncomfortable during the scene, the mood off-camera was far from it. 

In the video, Gillian films her co-stars as they sing along to the 1954 Chordettes tune Mr Sandman.

The cast appear to be in good spirits as they perform the tune, with Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Princess Margaret, even throwing in a few dance moves. 

Actor Tobias Menzies who plays Prince Philip, Stephen Boxer, who portrays Denis Thatcher, and Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, are also seen enjoying the moment.

The cast all have black marks on their faces from playing the drinking game, which sees players reciting a tongue-twister quickly.

If they trip up, they have to be marked with a stamp – usually a burnt bottle cork.

Gillian has also discussed how she prepared for the role, admitting that research enabled her to fine tune Thatcher’s distinctive voice and its notable cadences. 

She told PORTER: ‘She had a voice when talking to [her husband] Denis and she had a voice when she was talking to the Cabinet,’ she said. 

‘She had a voice when she was joking around with the ministers and, when talking at the party conferences, she had a tendency to pitch up a little and be a bit preachy. 

‘I wanted to get a balance of all that, an amalgamation, rather than getting too caught up in having different versions of her voice for different scenes.