While Olivia Colman still has another series to go as the Queen in The Crown, it has already been rumoured that she will be replaced by none other than Imelda Staunton for the show's seasons five and six. The show looks at the royal family through the Queen's reign, meaning that following season four, an older actress will be cast in the role, which has so far been played by Claire Foy and Olivia.
Will Imelda play the Queen?
According to the Daily Mail, Imelda is currently in talks to play the monarch during the late eighties to early noughties. However, a Netflix spokesperson has refused to confirm, calling the casting reports "speculation". They told Digital Spy: "We are currently filming season 4 of The Crown but have not commissioned any further seasons as yet, therefore any news on casting remains pure speculation."
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While the obvious choice for casting might have been Helen Mirren, who has played the Queen on several occasions, she has shut down reports that will be portraying Her Majesty. Chatting on Lorraine, she said: "A lot of people are wonderful. Claire [Foy] I thought was brilliant, I know Olivia [Colman] is going to be fantastic. I think it's more interesting when you see other portraits and it builds into a much more interesting picture [rather than] someone just coming back. I think it's more interesting!"
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Olivia is currently playing the Queen
Olivia has previously opened up about the challenge of taking over the role, telling The Telegraph: "Everyone loves Claire Foy, so I have got the worst job in the world at the moment. It's the same as any classical play you do — everyone will have already played that part before. The first week, I did feel myself trying to do Claire impressions. ‘What would she have done?'"
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