“We recorded the day after the funeral, and I felt it was challenging for the other individuals looking at me ’cause we have a ton of supporting artists and they were all looking at this act of playing the person who had been covered yesterday,” Staunton, 66, told Entertainment Tonight. “In this way, it was odd.”
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After Sovereign Elizabeth’s Sept. 8 death, The Crown paused filming of its 6th season. “Everyone was very sad, and I realize I was entirely inconsolable that evening,” Staunton said.
“My reaction surprised me. Obviously, I would feel something. In any case, having lived with her intently for two years, it felt strange.”
After the actress took the filming break for 10 days, she said she could see there was a “great feeling of sadness” among the cast and team. “I think his adoration letter to the sovereign started a long time ago… I think it’s gone on a long time,” Staunton said of show creator Peter Morgan, who launched the series in 2016. “Thus, clearly he is extremely passionate about this family.”
To duplicate Sovereign Elizabeth’s look, Staunton used the assistance of the show’s hair and makeup team, as she realized the outcome looked “passable” as the Sovereign.
The late monarch was recently played by Claire Foy in seasons 1 and 2, and Olivia Colman in seasons 3 and 4. Both won Emmys for their work on the show.
“I think this Sovereign is a more familiar search for many individuals around the world,” Staunton told ET.
“Certainly, for Claire Foy, when it started that resembled an ensemble drama, many years ago. And this is the current sovereign, what she resembled in the ’90s. Thus, I felt more daunted.”
— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) October 31, 2022
For the final two seasons of the series, including season 5 arriving on Netflix on Nov. 9, the Harry Potter alum will lead the cast as they portray a “wild time for the royal family.”
The storyline for the show’s next season will focus partially on 1992 — when three of her four youngsters were separated from their mates and a devastating fire hit Windsor Castle — which the Sovereign declared to be an “annus horribilis” (Latin for “horrendous year”). Staunton was the main cast part announced in January 2020, playing a more contemporary version of the Sovereign, and recently portrayed the task as an “extra challenge” since she’s “the Sovereign that we’re somewhat more familiar with.”
The first-look photograph of Staunton in character was released in July 2021. Other individuals from the cast include Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana. Debicki recently called taking on the role an honor. “Princess Diana’s soul, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many,” she said.
“It is my actual amazing privilege to join this masterful series, which has had me absolutely snared from episode one.”
On Wednesday, Netflix released a behind-the-scenes take a gander at the most up to date installment of the series, where cast individuals talked about what to expect and how it came together.
“Season 5 plays against a time of real criticism and uncertainty and unconfidence,” Morgan shared.
“It’s very shocking the way in which unmistakably critical individuals were of the monarchy around then.”
The Netflix series has also been the subject of criticism as of late, after Dame Judi Dench wrote an open letter to The Times, arguing that the streaming giant would be “savagely crooked” not to preface each episode with a statement declaring it historical fiction. Netflix included a disclaimer to The Crown’s season 5 trailer on YouTube and the drama’s Netflix page that says, “Inspired by real occasions, this fictional dramatization recounts the narrative of Sovereign Elizabeth II and the political and personal occasions that shaped her rule.”
