Olivia Colman is Hollywood’s newly anointed best actress after her Oscar win for The Favourite. But audiences who have followed her performances on British television could have told you what a powerhouse Colman was long ago. Thus it was no surprise, even pre-win, that Colman was cast to play a more mature Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s prestige show The Crown, taking over for Claire Foy.
Netflix must feel that it truly hit the jackpot in having snagged Colman before she blew up on an international stage. She was first announced to play Queen Elizabeth in 2017, with her Academy Award coming in 2019. The Crown is a popular and award-winning show, but it’s not every streaming drama that gets to put an Oscar winner front and center. Interest in The Crown is also likely to increase from viewers keen to see what she will do.
In addition to Colman, we have the inimitable Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth’s more controversial sister, Princess Margaret. I can’t wait to see them play off each other, and the 1960s-70s setting intrigues. We also have Josh O’Connor, the adorable Marius from PBS/BBC’s Les Miserables miniseries (which also starred Colman) as Prince Charles, and Tobias Menzies, otherwise known as Game of Throne‘s Edmure Tully, to round out what seems to be an exceptional cast. Here’s what we know thus far:
The third season of The Crown sees a new guard sweep into Downing Street, as Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family struggle to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing Britain. From cold-war paranoia, through to the jet-set and the space age – the exuberance of the 1960s and the long hangover of the 1970s – Elizabeth and the Royals must adapt to a new, more liberated, but also more turbulent world. Written by Peter Morgan, The Crown also stars Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Tobias Menzies as The Duke of Edinburgh, Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Ben Daniels as Lord Snowdon, Jason Watkins as Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten. The Crown Season 3 launches globally on Sunday, November 17.
(via Netflix, image: Netflix)
What else did we see today? So glad you asked!
- Wow. Wowowowoowowow.
I find this picture so incredibly moving. This is @GretaThunberg aged 15, sat alone outside the Swedish Parliament Aug 2018 – the first school strike. In just one year, she’s created a wave that will change the whole world. Never underestimate the power of one young person 💜💚 pic.twitter.com/84oYgJpnLj
— Louise Macdonald (@Louisemac) September 20, 2019
- A first, extremely blurry look at Angelina Jolie as Thena in Marvel’s The Eternals. If you say so. (via MCU Exchange)
- GLOW is being renewed for a fourth season, but alas, it shall also be the show’s last. (via Comicsbeat)
- Apparently Mitch Pileggi (SKINNER!!!) and Cara Buono have been cast for Supergirl’s fifth season. According to io9, Pileggi will play Rhama Khan, a mystic who can control the elements, and Bueno will play Gamemnae, an Atlantean. (via io9)
- New HBO Watchmen poster shows Regina King as Sister Night. (via CBR)
- Bill de Blasio has now dropped out of the Democratic presidential showdown, which I honestly did not know he was still in. Maybe you should try being mayor of New York City for a while, Bill! It’s your job! (via Boston Globe)
- Penguin Random House had an actual penguin “interning” and is it too late for me to switch my career to publishing?
After a week of feeling like every day was Friday, it’s finally Friday! How do you feel today?
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