Olivia Colman confirmed for The Crown role
It’s official: the beloved actress is going to be taking a royal step into the Netflix series.
Olivia Colman will be taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the third and fourth seasons of royal period drama series The Crown, Netflix has confirmed.
Broadchurch star Colman, 43, will take over the reins from the programme’s current leading star Claire Foy, who has played the Queen in the first season and is to return in the forthcoming second season.
There is no official air date as yet for the third season starring Colman, and no other casting details have been announced.
She returns to Buckingham Palace in season two, which is due for release in December.
The lavish biographical drama series, created by Peter Morgan and which also stars Matt Smith as Prince Philip, John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret and Victoria Hamilton as the Queen Mother, debuted last year.
The series started in 1947 and ended in 1955, portraying the earlier days of the Queen’s reign.
The second season is set to pick up in 1956 and will continue through to 1963.
The critically acclaimed first season was thought to have been the most expensive TV programme created by Netflix, at a reported total cost of £100 million.
She told The Graham Norton Show: “This is the last stint, it’s over, I’m done. I always knew it was only going to be two series and then the part would be reincarnated and someone else takes over.
“That’s the nature of the part.”
Colman, who won a Golden Globe for her role in BBC hit The Night Manager, will reportedly begin filming episodes in 2018.
