Emmy spotlight: Alex Jennings returns to ‘The Crown’ in regal fashion

Alex Jennings is one of those actors whose face you always recognize — cropping up in plenty of mainstream, respected, beloved projects — but whose name escapes the lips of American audiences. The character actor appeared opposite Dame Maggie Smith in “The Lady in the Van,” playing Alan Bennett, no less, while he held his own against the mighty likes of Ben Whishaw and Hugh Grant in “A Very English Scandal.” He actually worked with Whishaw again in last year’s acclaimed Hulu medical drama “This is Going to Hurt,” too, but his most famous role is likely that of King Edward VIII in seasons one and two of “The Crown.”

“The Crown” fans rejoiced when the actor returned to that role in a guest-acting capacity in the Netflix show’s most recent season — season five, which is set between 1991 and 1997 when John Major (Johnny Lee Miller) was Prime Minister. Some events depicted in this season include Queen Elizabeth‘s (Imelda Staunton) “annus horribilis,” the start of Tony Blair‘s (Bertie Carvel) reign as Prime Minister, Princess Diana‘s (Elizabeth Debicki) “Panorama” interview, and her public divorce from Prince Charles (Dominic West). But one of the season’s biggest delights was seeing Jennings return to the role briefly in episode three — “Mou Mou.”

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The flashback episode depicted how Mohamed Al-Fayed rose to power and prominence, which first began when he met Edward VII in Egypt in 1946. Jennings again excels in this role, capturing both the self-righteousness of the man as well as the loneliness, the sense of regret, and the romantic side of Edward VIII. Jennings, his punchy, clipped voice perfect for the character, fit the role like a glove yet again and it was thoroughly enjoyable to see him back, as critics agreed.

Lauren Chval (The AV Club) explained that Jennings was a great part of a successful episode that summarised so much of what makes “The Crown” good: “This rich, winding storytelling is a feature of ‘The Crown,’ not a bug. If you’re looking for fast, scandalous dramatization of the headlines that have plagued the royal family, you can try Lifetime. This show is much more interested in constructing these fictional arcs that tie the dramatic events together.”

Tom And Lorenzo observed: “Showrunner Peter Morgan makes use of ‘The Crown’ back bench, bringing back Alex Jennings for a cameo as the bored, effete Duke, as entitled and exiled as ever. These returns, like Claire Foy’s in the first episode this season and Vanessa Kirby’s in the episode following this one, do a great job of underlining the length of time covered by Elizabeth’s life and allow the show a sense of continuity even as it switches out entire casts every two seasons.”

And Neela Debnath (The Express) wrote that Jennings was a key part of what “The Crown” season five manages to get right: “When ‘The Crown’ get it right, it’s compelling stuff to watch… Take for instance the Duke of Windsor’s (Alex Jennings) valet Sydney Johnson (Connie M’Gadzah), a little-known story compared to the oversaturated coverage of Charles and Diana’s divorce. Indeed, putting the spotlight on the Al-Fayed family and their humble beginnings in Egypt is another insightful piece of storytelling.”

Currently, however, Jennings sits just outside of our predicted six nominees for Best Drama Guest Actor: Arian Moayed (“Succession”), Andy Serkis (“Andor”), Bryan Cranston (“Better Call Saul”), James Cromwell (“Succession”), and “The Last of Us” duo Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman. If Jennings did get in, it would be his first-ever Emmy nomination, which is a scandal.

He’s been a key part of so many great projects, including the first two seasons of “The Crown,” plus movies such as “The Lady in the Van” and “The Queen,” in which he played King Charles opposite Helen Mirren‘s Oscar-winning turn as Queen Elizabeth. Jennings has also starred in award-winning TV shows, including the Emmy-winning “A Very English Scandal” and the BAFTA-winning “This is Going to Hurt.” Surely there is room here for a veteran performer who has not received the love he deserves from Emmy voters? He’s been overlooked for so long — but not everywhere, however.

Jennings is a treasured theatre actor and is actually the only performer to win Olivier Awards across all three genres: Best Comedy Performance in “Too Clever By Half” in 1988; Best Actor for “Peer Gynt” in 1996, and Best Actor in a Musical for “My Fair Lady” in 2003. Three decades, three Oliviers — thespians clearly love him. The actors’ branch of the Emmys may want to finally take a moment to appropriately recognize this actors’ actor.

And what better chance to do so? He returns here to a show that Emmy voters absolutely adore. So far, the show has won a whopping 21 Emmys. Being involved in a show this admired will always help your chances no matter what. Specifically, however, voters love the performances in “The Crown,” having given out 17 nominations in total for its various actors’ roles. That is an incredible number. Season one garnered two bids, season two reaped four nominations, season three received two bids, and season four was greeted with a huge nine nominations.

Currently, we predict that “The Crown” will be nominated for Best Drama Series, Best Drama Actress for Imelda Staunton, and Best Drama Supporting Actress for Elizabeth Debicki. The show is also on the precipice of a bid for Lesley Manville in the same category as Debicki, while it’s also close to a bid for Best Drama Supporting Actor bid for Jonathan Pryce. If voters take to “The Crown” as they usually do, Jennings could get swept along for the ride. And there is precedence here for this exact pattern, too.

Foy returned for a guest-acting spot of her own last season and won Best Drama Guest Actress in 2021. That shows that Emmy voters are open-minded to nominating previous stars returning to their roles for a guest slot in “The Crown.” Jennings could follow that, particularly because voters like the guest-acting featured in the royal Netflix show. They have nominated three actors so far for their guest performances. Along with the aforementioned Foy, Matthew Goode was nominated in 2018 (losing to Ron Cephas Jones for “This Is Us”) and Charles Dance was nominated in 2021 (losing to Courtney B. Vance for “Lovecraft Country.” Jennings could become the fourth guest actor to reap an Emmy nomination for “The Crown.” Let’s see.

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