Claire Foy and Matt Smith ‘could be recast with older actors’ on The Crown as writer admits they’re too young to play characters in later stages
The lead cast will need to abdicate their roles to make way for older talent
EPIC Royal period drama The Crown could be set to lose its main stars as the pace of the storyline fast outpaces the real time passing of the years.
The Netflix drama shows the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and her relationship with Prince Philip alongside world events in the period between 1947 and 1955.
The show currently stars Clair Foy and Matt Smith in the lead roles as HM The Queen and Prince Philip respectively.
However as the third series is due to skip ahead to the late 1960s, show creator Peter Morgan has confessed the lead stars will need to be changed as Clair and Matt will not be able to age by two decades naturally and CGI effects are being dismissed.
Related articles
"If we do [a third season]… we'd probably need to think about the issue of recasting everybody and so those conversations are happening now and I couldn't tell you where we'll come out," the Oscar nominated writer told ScreenDaily.
"It's a big thing to go on again. Everybody needs to look at one another and say 'what is the appetite [for this]?' and under which circumstances and what terms would we do it," he added.
It is expected that the entire cast will be culled in favour of older acting talent as the show progresses to later stages of The Queen’s life.
"I feel that when we reach 1963-64 we've gone as far as we can go with Claire Foy without having to do silly things in terms of makeup to make her look older," Peter explained.
"She can't help the fact she's as young as she is," he added.
Series two of The Crown is expected to cover the years of 1956 through to 1963 with filming having begun last October.
It was recently revealed that Golden Globe winning actor Michael C Hall had been added to the cast for series 2 to portray iconic American president John F. Kennedy.
Actress Jodi Balfour has been drafted in to play JFK’s wife Jackie – while British actor Matthew Goode has secured the role of Anthony Armstrong-Jones (Princess Margaret’s real life husband).
Meanwhile show producer Stephen Daldry has previously warned The Queen never to watch the show.
Racy scenes include showing Matt Smith as Prince Phillip completely nude and a sex scene, and another in which the Duke of Edinburgh makes a cheeky joke about oral sex to The Queen, played by Foy.
And Stephen Daldry, the show’s executive producer admits he hopes Her Majesty is not tempted to watch the show despite its recent accolades.
The film-maker, 56, whose previous credits include Billy Elliot and The Hours, said: “I sincerely hope they don’t watch it and nor should they.
“I think enough people in the palace have watched it to reassure the family that were not doing a hack job, and that we are deeply respectful, but we are exploring issues of the family and their relationships both with internally to that family and their relationship to the government of the day.
“So there will be issues that are controversial for the family and its why i think they don’t should watch it. It is an imagined history – as well researched as it is, it is our interpretation of those events. It’s not a documentary.”
Got a story? email [email protected] or call us direct on 02077824220