The Crown casts Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip
The Crown has cast Tobias Menzies as its new Prince Philip opposite Olivia Colman’s new Queen Elizabeth, Variety reports.
Menzies is known for his roles on The Terror, Outlander, Game of Thrones, The Night Manager, Black Mirror — and my favorite, as Marcus Junius Brutus on Rome.
He is rather good at playing corrupt politicians and British intelligence officers — often with arrogant undertones and a public school sheen — which seems like the perfect qualities for portraying members of royalty and nobility.
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The Crown is meant to portray the reign of Queen Elizabeth II from her coronation to the present day, which is why main roles are being recast for seasons three and four. Claire Foy and Matt Smith had portrayed the young Queen and Prince Philip for seasons one and two.
For the upcoming seasons, the series will be casting middle-aged actors to portray the middle-aged royals. The series will also feature Helena Bonham Carter as the new Princess Margaret, replacing Vanessa Kirby.
The Crown has recently come under fire when it was revealed that Matt Smith’s salary was larger than series lead Claire Foy’s. A petition was initiated on the Care2 petition website calling for Matt Smith to donate the salary disparity to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.
While there’s been no word from Smith, Left Bank Pictures have officially apologized to Claire Foy for the disparity. The petition currently has over 45,000 signatures, but as Left Bank points out, Smith has come under fire for a disparity he knew nothing about.
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“The actors are not aware of who gets what, and cannot be held personally responsible for the pay of their colleagues,” said Left Bank in their statement.
It may not be fair to ask Smith to donate his fairly earned salary unless he were to do so in honest protest to Foy’s unfair payment. Why penalize Smith for budgetary decisions he had no part in?