‘The Crown’ Finds Its Next Prince Philip In ‘Game Of Thrones’ And ‘The Two Popes’ Star Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, a great actor with a wide list of credits includingBrazil,Glengarry Glen Ross,The Age of Innocence,Pirates of the Caribbean, and the recentThe Two Popes, is ready to become royalty forThe Crown. Pryce will take over the role of Prince Philip for seasons 5 and 6 of the Netflix drama, succeedingTobias MenziesandMatt Smith. Each season ofThe Crownskips ahead years in the lives of Queen Elizabeth II and those around her, and as a result, the cast has been replaced multiple times to portray the characters as they age.
Multiple outlets are reporting that Jonathan Pryce will take over the role of Prince Philip inThe Crownseason 5 and 6. The Netflix series premiered in 2016, and kicked things off withClaire Foyas Queen Elizbeth II, Matt Smith as Prince Philip, andVanessa Kirbyas Princess Margaret. They remained in those roles for season 2 and were joined byMatthew Goodeas Margaret’s husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon.
As each season ofThe Crownis meant to span about ten years, give or take, at least 20 years were supposed to have passed over season 1 and 2. Rather than bury the younger actors in make-up, show creatorPeter Morganand his team decided to bring in older actors going forward. In the recent season 3,Olivia Colmantook over as Elizabeth, Tobias Menzies became Philip,Helena Bonham Carterwas the new Margaret, andBen Danielsplayed the new Lord Snowdon. Those parts are continuing into season 4, which will be released later this year.Gillian Andersonwill also appear in that season as Margaret Thatcher, and a big part of season 3 will focus on the marriage of Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Princess Diana (Emma Corrin).
Come season 5, in addition to Pryce as Philip,Imelda Stauntonwill be Elizabeth, andLesley Manvilleis the new Margaret. You can expect to hear about additional casting in the future. At one point, Morgan and company were planning to end the show with the fifth season, but recently reversed course and decided to wrap things up with season 6. “As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons,” Morgan said. “To be clear, Series 6 will not bring us any closer to present-day — it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail.”
