The Crown's Olivia Colman Is “Quite Pleased” to Leave the Role of Queen Elizabeth Behind
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The Crown showrunner Peter Morgan has made a habit of completely recasting the royal drama every two years. “You can’t ask someone to act middle-aged. Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it,” he said, when asked about the initial decision switch up the actors after season two. “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.”
For the forthcoming season five, he's once again hiring a new slate of performers to play the royals as they creep up in years. Notably, Imelda Staunton, known for her performances in Downton Abbey and the Harry Potter films, is stepping into Queen Elizabeth's royal shoes, and following in Olivia Colman's footsteps.
Colman isn't sad or disappointed to be passing the baton; in fact, she recently shared that she's “quite pleased” to be leaving the royal role behind.
According to Radio Times, during a virtual conversation put on by Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Colman reflected on the difficulties of playing a real person on screen.
“Because behind closed doors, we don’t know what she’s like,” she said. “I had a little bit of play with that. But definitely… the hardest part I’ve done is someone who’s real. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m quite pleased now to be able to move on to something else.”
Colman also offered some pragmatic advice to actors just starting out. “Do not get too up yourself, too grand. Work is work. If I now decided: ‘Oh, I will only do feature films,’ I might not work again. If you get accolades for something, enjoy it for a bit, but put it aside and pretend that hasn’t happened a week later,” she said.
“You still need to work and no one else will remember it either after a week. So crack on.”
The Crown's fourth season is available to stream in its entirety on Netflix. A premiere date has yet to be shared publicly for season five.
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