Photo: Alex Bailey/Netflix
All hail!Imelda Stauntonis rounding out a powerful trio of women to playQueen Elizabeth II.
On Friday,The Crown’s officialInstagramreleased the first image of Staunton as the long-serving monarch in season 5 of the fictionalized drama about the British royals.
Alex Bailey/Netflix; PA Images/Getty
Staunton is the third actress to take on the role, succeedingClaire FoyandOlivia Colman.
Foy won an Emmyfor her portrayal of the monarch’s ascent to the throne in season 1 and was nominated for her work in season 2. Colman received back-to-back-nominations for playing the Queen from 1974 into the early ’90s. Along with her season 4 costarsJosh O’ConnorandEmma Corrin— who playedPrince CharlesandPrincess Diana, respectively — Colman received one ofThe Crown’s 24 Emmy nominationsin 2021 (winners will be announced on September 19).
When asked about handing over the role to Staunton, Colmanteasedthat her successor “already [has] a much better walk than me.”
Sophie Mutevelian/Netflix; Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty
No premiere date has been announced yet, but season 5 — which will beThe Crown’s last — is expected to pick back up somewhere amid the collapse of Charles and Diana’s marriage. The future king’s separation from the “People’s Princess” was announced in December 1992, a month after the Queen dubbed the year an “annus horribilis.”
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Staunton is an Emmy and Oscar nominee in her own right, though she’s perhaps most widely known for portraying the villainous Dolores Umbridge in theHarry Pottermovies.
When asked what advice she’d have for Staunton in taking on the role, Colmanquipped, “Good luck … the wig’s itchy.”
source: people.com
