'Game of Thrones' and 'Outlander' star Tobias Menzies is set to take over the role from Matt Smith, who portrayed the character in the first two seasons.
- Mar 29, 2018
AceShowbiz - Meet the new Prince Philip of "The Crown"! The Netflix historical drama has filled the major roles for the upcoming season 3 and 4. After recasting Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, the series announces that Tobias Menzies will play Prince Philip in the new seasons.
The "Game of Thrones" actor is taking over the role from Matt Smith, who previously played the character in the first two seasons alongside Claire Foy's Queen Elizabeth. According to Deadline, Menzies has begun filming for "The Crown" this summer in the U.K.
Menzies, who plays both Frank Randall and Black Jack Randall on Starz's "Outlander", will join Olivia Colman ("The Lobster") and Helena Bonham Carter (The "Harry Potter" series) on "The Crown". Colman was tapped to play Her Royal Highness. Meanwhile, Carter was set to portray Queen Elizabeth's sister Margaret, who was played by Vanessa Kirby in the previous seasons.
"The Crown" is recasting the roles with older actors as the new season is poised to follow Queen Elizabeth II from 1957 to 1964.
The upcoming season 3 of "The Crown" will introduce Camilla Parker Bowles, then Camilla Shand, who met Prince Charles at a polo match back in 1971. The show's casting director Nina Gold once hinted that the new season would see the Queen's eldest children, Charles and Anne, having bigger roles than in the initial seasons.
"Charles, Camilla, and Anne are going to be pretty interesting characters to follow, because they are just coming into their own," teased Gold. "We've cast a pretty wide net for these new young characters."
Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos previously stated that the plan was to have the period drama, which follows the life of the Queen, running for six seasons. "This is going to take Queen Elizabeth from age 29 to, presumably, the current day. We'll see it lay out over decades," Sarandos said. "The idea is to do this over six decades, in six seasons presumably, and make the whole show [run] over eight to 10 years."
