Why Did ‘The Crown’ Season 3 Replace Claire Foy with Olivia Colman?

The Crown Season 3 follows Queen Elizabeth II as she reluctantly embraces middle age and takes on the challenges of a bold, new era: the late ’60s.

However, as the first few minutes of The Crown Season 3 highlight, Elizabeth looks…different. No longer is she played by Claire Foy, but Olivia Colman. In fact, almost all the returning characters from The Crown have been drastically aged up and replaced by an older-looking cast of actors.

So, how come? Why did The Crown replace Claire Foy? More importantly, how does Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth II compare with the Emmy-winning Foy’s? If you’ve got questions about The Crown Season 3’s cast shake up, we’ve got some answers.

What Happened to Claire Foy on The Crown? Why Did The Crown Re-Cast Queen Elizabeth?

Do not be worried about Claire Foy, Crown-heads! Claire Foy was not fired from The Crown or anything nefarious like that. Creator Peter Morgan originally pitched The Crown as a six season show that would cover the scope of Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign. To show the passage of time, after two seasons, the whole cast would be replaced with older actors to underline the transitions taking place.

So Claire Foy always knew she would just be the “young” Elizabeth in Seasons 1 and 2, and Olivia Colman is only going to play Elizabeth in Seasons 3 and 4. No word on whether or not Netflix will renew The Crown for Seasons 5 & 6, but if they do, Elizabeth, Philip, and all the other royals will have to be re-cast again.

How Does Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown Season 3 Compare with Claire Foy’s Queen Elizabeth II from The Crown Seasons 1 & 2?

As you may imagine, Academy Award winner Olivia Colman is utterly sublime as this older, (maybe) wiser version of Queen Elizabeth II. From the get go, she gives Elizabeth a sharper sense of humor, and a clearer view of herself. In contrast, Foy’s Elizabeth was a young woman who had to steel herself into a figurehead. We watched as she learned how to harden her heart and how to wear dowdy tweed suits as though they were armor. Colman’s Elizabeth has already mastered this transfiguration. Even in her most intimate moments, there’s a cynicism at play. Sincerity will not secure her family’s future on the throne. Only resignation to the task at hand and the discipline to make the tough calls will.

So Colman is playing a different Queen Elizabeth. She’s less torn up about disappointing her loved ones and quicker to throw her own weight around to win an argument. Foy’s mask of magnificence always seemed on the verge of cracking, at least until her very last episode. Colman is unflappable.

Then again, Colman has a different role to play in The Crown. The first two seasons gave Foy an opportunity to portray a woman transforming herself into a goddess-like figurehead, but Colman doesn’t have this kind of meaty material to play with. Instead, she is the anchor of the drama, the one character unfazed by sentiment, and the one character quick to weigh everyone else down. Some of Colman’s best moments aren’t scenes were Elizabeth shines, but acts as a counter to another character going through some great emotional tumult. (For instance, there’s a particularly devastating scene towards the end of the season between Elizabeth and her son, Prince Charles.)

Essentially, the quality of The Crown is untarnished. Colman is as exquisite as Foy was. Nevertheless, Colman gets less of a platform to really stretch herself here. For that, you’ll want to watch her Oscar-winning turn in last year’s The Favourite.

The Crown Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix

Watch The Crown on Netflix