As ‘The Crown’ Ends, What Are Its Former Stars Up To?
Netflix’s crowning achievement in prestige drama is reaching the end of its reign. The back half of The Crown’s sixth and final season debuts on Thursday, December 14, bringing this Emmy-winning onscreen dramatization of the lives of Queen Elizabeth II and her family members to an endpoint.
Unlike other biopics, however, The Crown has no one star. Instead, creator Peter Morgan and his colleagues have swapped out the cast every other season as the British royal family gets older, with additional actors playing prime ministers and other notables along the way. Below, see 11 of The Crown’s former stars and updates on their screen careers.
The Crown, Season 6 Part 2 Premiere, Thursday, December 14, Netflix
Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth II)
Foy appeared in the 2022 film Women Talking, for which she and her costars earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Now she’s starring opposite Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, and Jamie Bell in the romantic drama film All of Us Strangers.
Matt Smith (Prince Philip)
Smith plays Prince Daemon Targaryen in The House of the Dragon, HBO’s hit Game of Thrones spinoff. He also stars alongside Morfydd Clark in the horror film Starve Acre, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October.
Jared Harris (King George VI)
Harris went from playing Smith’s onscreen father-in-law in The Crown to his onscreen father figure in the 2022 superhero pic Morbius. Elsewhere last year, he voiced Captain Crow in the Netflix animated film The Sea Beast. Now he stars as Hari Seldon in the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Foundation,
Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret)
Kirby plays Josephine Bonaparte opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the new historical drama Napoleon. Earlier this year, she reprised her role as the White Widow in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and she’ll play the same role in Part Two, scheduled for 2025.
John Lithgow (Winston Churchill)
Lithgow starred in two Apple Original Films productions this year, with roles in both Sharper and Killers of the Flower Moon. He also stars as Harold Harper in the FX drama thriller The Old Man.
Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth II)
Colman led an adaptation of Great Expectations, popped up on The Bear, starred on Secret Invasion, and continued her Heartstopper role, all in 2023. She also plays Mrs. Scrubbit in the new film Wonka.
Tobias Menzies (Prince Philip)
Menzies joined Julia Louis-Dreyfus in this year’s comedy-drama film You Hurt My Feelings, and he recurred in the Viaplay drama Made in Oslo last year. Coming up, he’ll lead the cast of Apple TV+’s Manhunt, a limited drama about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles)
O’Connor has been all over the big screen recently, having appeared in the films Mothering Sunday, Aisha, La Chimera, and Bonus Track since leaving the role of Prince Charles behind. Coming up, you’ll see him costar with Zendaya and Mike Faist in next year’s sports comedy Challengers.
Emma Corrin (Princess Diana)
Corrin currently stars as Darby Hart in the FX psychological thriller series A Murder at the End of the World, streaming on Hulu. Coming up, they’ll appear in Dan Levy’s Netflix comedy-drama film Good Grief, streaming on January 5, as well as the 2024 films Deadpool 3 and Nosferatu.
Helena Bonham Carter (Princess Margaret)
So far this year, Carter joined Anthony Hopkins in the biopic film One Life and voiced the Wise Horse in the Apple TV+ short film The Velveteen Rabbit. She also stars as the titular, real-life British soap star in the limited series Nolly, slated to debut stateside on PBS’ Masterpiece in March.
Gillian Anderson (Margaret Thatcher)
Since her time on The Crown, Anderson starred as Eleanor Roosevelt in the Showtime drama The First Lady, played Joanna in the Hulu historical comedy The Great, appeared in the movies The Pale Blue Eye and White Bird, and continued her role as Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education.
