Netflix’s extravagant six-season historical drama has one of the century’s best casts, despite the show’s rotating roster of talent. Netflix has never had trouble attracting high-profile names; hundreds of Hollywood A-listers and iconic TV veterans have signed up to join the streamer’s ranks alongside an array of fresh new faces, lending fledgling original shows like Stranger Things, Grace & Frankie, The Witcher, and others a genuine sense of prestige, as well as a distinct advantage in streaming’s overcrowded market.
Even with Netflix’s global allure, however, finding the perfect cast can be much harder for historical dramas, particularly those that chronicle real-life events. Hiring actors to portray the lives of actual people — especially people who are already quite famous in their own right — comes with its own set of challenges. Do these actors look like the person they’re portraying? Will audiences find them believable in the role? Should the cast avoid comparison or embrace it?
Not every historical drama that deals with relatively recent events has been equally successful. Somehow, though, one of Netflix’s most expensive original productions managed to find the perfect, generational cast to portray the world’s most famous and powerful reigning family: the British royal family. The 24-time Emmy-winning, six-season historical drama The Crown produced some of the 21st century’s most memorable performances, an unbelievable feat given its high-profile subject matter.
Each Generation Of The Crown’s Cast Delivered Stellar Performances
Younger Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) looking down behind older Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton) in The Crown finale
Finding one actor to accurately and sympathetically portray a recognizable, relatively modern historical figure on the small screen is already hard enough. Finding multiple actors to portray the same person across decades is an almost impossible task, one that Peter Morgan’s The Crown handled with incredible grace and ingenuity. It’s no wonder the show was nominated for three and won one Outstanding Casting Emmy Award.
Across six seasons, three generations of actors took on The Crown’s leading roles, giving audiences a glimpse into a dramatized version of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Princess Margaret, and their extensive family’s highly-publicized private lives. Set between 1947 and 1997, from Elizabeth’s and Philip’s wedding to Princess Diana’s untimely death in Paris and beyond, renowned British talent brought their A-game to the proceedings, including Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Helena Bonham Carter, Elizabeth Debicki, and so many more.
Lead Characters In The Crown
Cast In Order
Queen Elizabeth II
Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton, Viola Prettejohn
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Matt Smith, Tobias Menzies, Jonathan Pryce
Princess Margaret
Vanessa Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter, Lesley Manville
The Queen Mother
Victoria Hamilton, Marion Bailey, Marcia Warren
Prince Charles
Billy Jenkins, Josh O’Connor, Dominic West
Princess Diana
Emma Corrin, Elizabeth Debicki
What’s remarkable about The Crown’s casting achievement is that each new performance felt distinctive while building on what came before. Of course, the first generation set the benchmark. Still, you can see Foy’s choices in Olivia Colman’s subsequent tenure as Elizabeth, and you can see Colman’s charm in Imelda Staunton’s final portrayal, too. Life changes everyone, no matter how powerful and successful they may be, and The Crown’s re-cast actors captured the consequences of the smallest and the most life-altering moments perfectly.
Josh O’Connor’s performance as a younger Prince Charles turned him into a global star, and deservedly so. Matt Smith lost himself in his role as Prince Philip, leaving his popular role in Doctor Who far behind him. Emma Corrin’s and Elizabeth Debicki’s portrayals of Diana arguably made the late Princess even more beloved than before. Everyone brought something new and pivotal to the show, contributing to its enormous success.
The chemistry within the cast is exceptional, highlighted by strong scripts and understated, powerful drama. Even the supporting players are incredible talents, such as John Lithgow as Prime Minister Winston Churchill or Gillian Anderson as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, seamlessly fitting into the show’s history. The relationships between all these actors and characters are so complex and strangely heartbreaking that it’s easy to forget it’s not just a normal family saga playing out on screen, it’s a royal family drama involving some of the wealthiest, most influential people on Earth.
Netflix Will Never Be Able To Replicate The Crown’s Success
Close up of Elizabeth Debicki as Diana looking up in The Crown season 6
Watching The Crown back now, it truly feels like a once-in-a-lifetime event, something made possible only by Netflix’s eye-watering budgets, creator Peter Morgan’s unwavering dedication, research, and interest in royal affairs, and the exceptional talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Related
The Crown’s Complete Timeline Explained
Netflix’s The Crown charts the reign of Queen Elizabeth II reign from season 1’s start in the 1950s to season 5, which takes place in the 1990s.
While Netflix has and will undoubtedly continue to produce plenty of other highly successful, beautifully filmed, critically acclaimed multi-season dramas with strong casts and memorable performances, few, if any, will manage to surpass The Crown. Even the show’s weaker, later seasons had an undeniable impact, capturing the interest of a global audience as it recreated some of modern history’s biggest moments.
The series will arguably forever be the most definitive fictionalized portrayal of the royal family’s lasting legacy, both for better and for worse, captured at a time when the show’s recent history felt genuinely important to the nation and the world’s status quo. The Crown’s cast tied everything together, perfectly showcasing the power of human connection, the effects of time, greed, and wealth, and the importance of seeing genuine emotion on screen.
All six seasons of The Crown are available to stream on Netflix now.
Release Date
2016 – 2023-00-00
Writers
Peter Morgan
