Netflix released the first look of Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II from the third season of The Crown on Monday. The image features Colman delicately sipping tea, while an accompanying caption reads, “Patience”. The show’s third season is in production and is expected to be premiered in 2019.
The Golden Globe Award-winning period drama chronicles Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, beginning with her engagement to Prince Phillip in 1947. Colman will play an older Elizabeth as the series moves closer to the present. She replaces Claire Foy, who played the character for the first two seasons, winning several awards and two Emmy nominations (one for the upcoming 2018 awards) for her performance.
Ahead of the season one premiere, creator Peter Morgan had said that he intended to change the key cast members as they age, roughly every two seasons. “What’s so beautiful about Claire is her youth,” Morgan had told Variety. “You can’t ask someone to act middle-aged. Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it. The feelings we all have as 50-year-olds are different than the feelings we all have as 30-year-olds. That informs everything we do.”
Several other key characters have been recast for the third season. Tobias Menzies will replace Matt Smith as Pince Philip, and Helena Bonham Carter will replace Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret.
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