Olivia Colman has been cast to play Queen Elizabeth in seasons three and four of Netflix’s hit drama, “The Crown.”
Claire Foy has played the Queen for the first two seasons, and earned an Emmy nomination as best actress for her work. She also won a Golden Globe award and Screen Actors Guild award as best actress in a drama.
The second season will debut on December 8th on Netflix.
Seasons 3 and 4 have not been officially ordered, but early production is underway.
Colman, 43, has starred in “Broadchurch” and AMC’s “The Night Manager,” for which she won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress and was nominated for an Emmy award.
Series creator Peter Morgan has always intended to replace key cast members in later seasons, to better reflect the main characters’ real age.
The series tells the inside story of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, as the fragile social order established after the Second World War breaks apart. Beginning with soldiers in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces fighting an illegal war in Egypt, and ending with the downfall of her third Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, after a devastating scandal, the second season bears witness to the end of the age of deference, and ushers in the revolutionary era of the 1960s.
Season one starred Matt Smith, Victoria Hamilton, Vanessa Kirby, John Lithgow, Nicholas Rowe, Pip Torrens, Jeremy Northam, Ben Miles, and Billy Jenkins.
Matthew Goode (“Downton Abbey”) joins in season two as Princess Margaret’s husband Antony Armstrong-Jones.
Based on the award-winning play, “The Audience,” the series reunites creator and writer Morgan with director Stephen Daldry and producer Andy Harries.
