Imelda Staunton to take on 'The Crown'
Friday, January 31, 2020 at 6:00PM
There’s a new queen in town. Following Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton becomes the latest British actress to take on the role of Elizabeth II in The Crown. She has even released a statement.
Netflix has announced that Staunton will take on the role in the 5th season of its royal drama. It also announced that the show will end with that season, one season shorter than the six-season plan creator Peter Morgan had originally envisioned for the show...
According to a statement from Morgan put out by Netflix, this was a creative decision “now that we have begun work on the stories for S5 it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop.” Interesting. Has the show become prohibitively expensive? Or are they afraid that the recent anti-royalist headlines with both the Prince Andrew -Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the Harry / Meghan secession would have an adverse impact on the show’s popularity.
I did not care for the recently released 3rd season. Colman was miscast, having to hamper down her innate hilarious charisma to play the totally sedate and unhumourous monarch. It didn’t help that Helena Bonham Carter was offering yet another version of her Tim Burtonesque eccentrics with no illusion to Margaret. The stories also felt redundant. Perhaps it's time to move on.
Are you excited to see Staunton's take on the Queen?
Reader Comments (20)
I think Colman is just fine in season 3. She does a good job of hampering down her innate charisma. If the queen were funny, I'm sure she'd be more fun to watch, but that's who she is. Loved HBC, even though I haven't seen enough Margaret in real life to know how accurate the portrayal is.
I’m probably going to fall asleep.
A really underrated actress,difficult to cast in Hollywood,the rightful winner of 2004's Best Actress,be nice to see her with a Helen Mirren type career..
I still think she should've been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. Her in the role of Dolores Umbridge was perfect as she brought the most hated character of the entire series to life in a way that made you hate her even more.
Absolutely, but what I really want for her is a Broadway play so she can win the Tony.
Bit harsh there I think, Colman is doing great work with one of least known most internalised figures in history and HBC is broad strokes as Margaret but it totally riffs off what Kirby was doing and is totally a jaded version of that character 15 years later (even though it isn’t ha).
Season 3 was excellent and focused on less well known events - I just wanted to see more of Princess Anne please.
Disappointed they’re stopping after one season of Staunton but I get it as well
This is fantastic news... except for the shortening of the series.
What did you think of Colman in Broadchurch, Murtada?
Arkaan - I havent watched Broadchurch.
Let's give all awards to British Actresses for playing Queens. God knows how challenging it is to play queen after queen after queen.
My prediction: Miranda Richardson will play Margaret in this last season.
Odd to think that the series will end after 5 seasons. I suppose it will end with the queen in the late 90s/early 2000s with Elizabeth being the only remaining member of her family. I’m a bit sad but I guess it makes sense, especially since some of the new events are too much to process so quickly. But, this does make me wonder if ratings are low.
For one Murtada and I agree. Season 3 was about the men and the women had very little to do.
It will likely end with 2002 which was a big year for the Queen with the Queen Mother and Margaret's deaths, as well as her Golden Jubilee. The Queen was never more popular that year.
She definitely should have won the Oscar over Hilary Swank that year
I had a hard time accepting Olivia Colman as EII because Claire Foy did such a great job in Seasons 1 and 2. Colman's performance in Season 3 had me stumped: why did I not like her? It took the rest of the season to find out: She almost never smiled. She seemed to careen from one crisis to the next. They didn't even give her much to smile about for the Silver Jubilee.
I've not seen Helena B-C in too many things, and I think she was delightful as Margaret. Vanessa Kirby (in seasons 1 and 2) was fine when she had to play Margaret acting out her feelings, but seemed to lack the joie de vivre which was part and parcel of Margaret.
I think Imelda Staunton should be fine. She's a much underrated actress, and finally they will have someone who is as short as EII!
I'm sure there is more to this decision to end with five than meets the eye.
And HBC was outstanding as always as Margaret. Only wish she'd had more to do besides the two showcases.
Poor Clair Foy is The Crown's only Elizabeth not to guaranteed an Oscar win in their lifetime.
Colman was wonderful in season 3. I don't know what you're talking about. Her Broadchurch character Ellie was also very restrained at times as she had to keep it together in the face of DI Hardy's breakdowns and her own growing personal issues. Colman's ability to convey internalised, restrained emotion, is one of her strong points as an actress. Her "innate hilarious charisma" is also a strong point. It's an absurdist type of humour that comes out in The Favourite and Fleabag. She is a very versatile actress and she does well with QE2.
I also enjoyed HBC's portrayal. I think it's demeaning to imply she's playing it Burtonesque. After all HBC is Burton's muse. She makes every role her own. Her Belatrix is iconic. Her Margaret may not be an impersonation but it is thoughtful and respectful to the troubled soul Margaret appeared to be.
And Imelda will be brilliant...
Imelda will be a brilliant, inspired casting.
Colman was boring as hell so thank the God for HBC!
I hope they cast Lesley Manville as Margaret next. Make this a Mike Leigh universe if anything.