'The Crown' Season 3 Will Replace Claire Foy With Olivia Colman
If you were wondering how the Netflix series The Crown would handle its character's aging as the show progressed throughout the life of Queen Elizabeth II, wonder no more. Broadchurch actress Olivia Colman will take over the lead role from Golden Globe winning actress Claire Foy for seasons 3 and 4 of the popular Netflix saga, which chronicles the life and reign of the current Queen of England. Get The Crown season 3 details below, your majesties.
The real Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne for some 65 years now, but the actresses playing her will have a much a shorter reign. Netflix's series The Crown tracks the rise of Elizabeth II following the death of her father, George VI. The ambitious plan is for the series to track Elizabeth II's life all the way up to the present day, and since we're talking over 5 decades here, that means the Queen must age.
Claire Foy played Elizabeth II in season 1, and will continue to play the part in the upcoming season 2. But after that, Broadchurch and The Night Manager actress Olivia Colman will rise to power for seasons 3 and 4, per EW. Each season of The Crown will follow approximately a decade in Elizabeth II's life, and producers have always planned to to recast the lead roles following season 2. No word yet who will be taking over other roles for season 3, including Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, currently played by Matt Smith.
The Crown gives audiences an inside-look at the behind-the-scenes lives of the House of Windsor, and all the palace intrigue we common folk aren't privy to. Season 1 began with Elizabeth II's wedding and followed her ascension to the throne following the death of her father (Jared Harris), while also chronicling marital strife, power struggles, and a bumpy relationship with Prime Minister Winston Churchill (John Lithgow). The upcoming season 2 will track events occurring from 1957 to 1964, and will add new faces to the cast, including Michael C. Hall as John F. Kennedy (yes, of #JFkDocuments hashtag fame). Here's the official synopsis:
The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world — Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.
The series is lush and sweeping; one of the most expensive Netflix original programs to date, and it shows. It's easy to get swept up in all the ornate melodrama that unfolds. Foy is excellent in the lead, but Colman is an incredible actress who steals nearly every film or TV show she appears in, so it should be mighty interesting to watch her take over the role for season 3. You can next catch Colman in Murder on the Orient Express.
The Crown season 2 arrives on Netflix December 8, 2017.