Showrunner Peter Morgan famously recast season three of The Crown, replacing Claire Foy, who starred as Queen Elizabeth in seasons one and two, with Olivia Colman; Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip, with Tobias Menzies; and Vanessa Kirby, who portrayed the Queen's younger sister Princess Margaret, with Helena Bonham Carter.
As the characters age in the series, so do the actors.
"You can’t ask someone to act middle-aged," Morgan said, when asked about the possibility of aging the actors with makeup. "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."
But there were still a few actors who managed to stick around for another season. Pip Torrens returns as the Queen's advisor Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, as do Verity Russell and Beau Godson, reprising their parts as young Elizabeth and young Margaret, respectively, and Finn Elliot, who plays a young Prince Philip.
But perhaps the most surprising actor to return to the series is John Lithgow, in role of the venerated war-time prime minister, Winston Churchill. Lithgow is the only returning actor to appear not in a flashback, but rather a scene with members of the new cast. Early on in season three, the Queen comes to visit Churchill, who, in the show's timeline, is now in ailing health.
Previously, Lithgow described playing Churchill as both "very exciting" and "very intimidating."
"I never dreamed I would play Churchill. It was sort of unimaginable," he told Town & Country, ahead of the show's first season in 2016.
"I would never cast myself in the role, but Daldry thought of me, and Peter Morgan thought it was a great idea, and my agent called and said Peter Morgan writer, Stephen Daldry director, Winston Churchill on Netflix for eight months, and I had said yes about halfway through that. It was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity."
All 10 episodes of The Crown are now available to watch on Netflix. Check out the trailer for this season below:
As the digital director for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers culture, entertainment, and a range of other subjects
