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The Royals and Company: The Cast Thread


larry.lahr
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I was one of the non-believers who groaned and *facepalmed* when I found out Helena Bonham Carter was signed on to play the Queen Mother in The King’s Speech. I had only seen her more... whacky performances and I was completely dismayed to hear that particular piece of casting news for a film I was not only looking forward to (I can count on one hand the number of films I’ve actually seen first-run in the last decade), but was praying they’d get SOMEWHAT right (I’m also a stutterer/stammerer myself).

 

Suffice to say, I was more than delighted to be proven completely wrong. Helena delivered such a subtle, nuanced, quiet performance that I truly felt ashamed of myself for ever having doubted she could pull it off.

 

If this show has snagged her for Princess Margaret, it’s only now up to the writing.

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Disappointed that they're apparently bypassing the late '60s completely -- some not insignificant things happened then that would also make for good TV, like, you know, Charles' investiture, which would not only keep the Crown premise on-point, but would even interestingly give Tony something to do outside of the Margaret story as, in reality, he designed the whole production. Then the whole "never to be seen again" royal family documentary from the same time...

HBC would be in spirit a wonderful older Margaret, but the timeline and age discrepancies do give pause.

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15 hours ago, lavenderblue said:

Disappointed that they're apparently bypassing the late '60s completely -- some not insignificant things happened then that would also make for good TV, like, you know, Charles' investiture, which would not only keep the Crown premise on-point, but would even interestingly give Tony something to do outside of the Margaret story as, in reality, he designed the whole production. Then the whole "never to be seen again" royal family documentary from the same time...

HBC would be in spirit a wonderful older Margaret, but the timeline and age discrepancies do give pause.

I quite liked this quote from the Earl of Snowdon in the 1st link:

“I took Prince Charles down beforehand, otherwise he would have gone into it cold. We went down by train, and the press at Bangor were such awful snobs, they only looked in the first-class carriage, and we were in third. It was cheaper.”

Especially in light of the sob story they had him tell of his mother making him travel 3rd class while his (younger) step brothers got 1st and 2nd respectively.  (I took that story to be a metaphor, but it gave me a giggle to see that he had Charles travel in third class to his own Investiture.

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Whoever they get, I hope they get the ears right.  The kid they had in the latter half of this season was a perfect match--maybe not for Charles when he was that age, but certainly how I imagine how he looked back then.  

Looks matter. The guy who played Charles in The Queen made me think I was looking at Edward VIII.  

Edited by PeterPirate
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6 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

Whoever they get, I hope they get the ears right.  The kid they had in the latter half of this season was a perfect match--maybe not for Charles when he was that age, but certainly how I imagine how he looked back then.  

Looks matter. The guy who played Charles in The Queen made me think I was looking at Edward VIII.  

You do know the guy who played Charles in The Queen is the guy who played Edward VIII in The Crown, right? Hahaha

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Yes, I was attempting a little dry humor there.  I made a similar attempt a couple days before:

On 1/14/2018 at 5:34 AM, PeterPirate said:

Queen Elizabeth visited David in Paris ten days before he died in 1974. I can imagine a scene or two with him in season 4.  

After that, I suppose they can re-cast Alex Jennings as Prince Charles. 

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Isn't Ralph Fiennes a bit too old for Olivia Colman?  She's mid 40s and he looks like he's 60.

I would love to see Paul Bettany as Philip.  He has that blondish look that fits.

I'm curious if they are going to keep some of the supporting characters who were already old... for example, I really hope they keep Victoria Hamilton as the Queen Mother.

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3 hours ago, blackwing said:

Isn't Ralph Fiennes a bit too old for Olivia Colman?  She's mid 40s and he looks like he's 60.

I would love to see Paul Bettany as Philip.  He has that blondish look that fits.

I'm curious if they are going to keep some of the supporting characters who were already old... for example, I really hope they keep Victoria Hamilton as the Queen Mother.

Ralph Fiennes is 55 and he most definitely doesn't look 60! If seasons 3 and 4 cover the 70's and 80's, like previously reported, Philip will be in his 50's/60's by then.

And the Queen Mother will be in her 70's/80's, that's a lot of makeup for Victoria Hamilton.

32 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Casting Julie Andrews as the QM is practically perfect in every way.

I think Julie Andrews will be great if they plan to depict the real Queen Mother.  I'm less sure she will play well as the snarky, unhappy, behind-the-scenes version that we've seen so far.  Julie Andrews just conjures up thoughts of, well, Julie Andrews.  

Perhaps Andrews would welcome the change of pace.  Mary Tyler Moore was devastating in Ordinary People precisely because of her image as the girl-next-door.

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On 1/20/2018 at 2:12 PM, Wallacd said:

TVLine is reporting that Paul Bettany has been officially cast as Philip.  http://tvline.com/2018/01/20/the-crown-paul-bettany-cast-prince-philip-season-3/

Bettany is a fine actor. However, I will miss Matt Smith and his amazing cheekbones.

I applaud the decision to recast for Seasons 3-4 and use "older" actors. However, it will seem like a different show without our three leads. Foy, Smith and Kirby were perfect. But "different" doesn't mean "not good." I'm sure that Coleman, HBC and Bettany will be stellar.

Edited by Ellaria Sand
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Don't know why he dropped out but I have to think it still stings that Colin Firth won an Oscar for a role he turned down. If the actor who does play Phillip in season 3 ends up getting an Emmy...

Claire Foy on the cover of Vanity Fair with big stars like Tom Hanks, Robert Deniro, Harrison Ford, Nicole Kidman and new sensations like Gal Gadot. I know she was in that Andrew Garfield movie and she's playing Ryan Gosling's wife in the upcoming Neil Armstrong movie but she hasn't become a big name in movies... yet.

tumblr_p34y9cDviu1uy3gdxo1_1280.jpg

tumblr_p34ucr9Ocx1wb5sm7o2_r1_540.jpg

Edited by VCRTracking
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18 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

Don't know why he dropped out but I have to think it still stings that Colin Firth won an Oscar for a role he turned down. If the actor who does play Phillip in season 3 ends up getting an Emmy...

 

Maybe because he's tied up in MCU movies?  I don't know what his obligations are past Infinity War, but that might be part of it.

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On 1/5/2018 at 1:26 PM, Milburn Stone said:

Like Pip Torrens! (Assuming Tommy was still alive in the sixties. Don't tell me if he wasn't. I need Tommy to live forever.)

Don't worry, Real!Tommy made it to 90+ well into the Thatcher years AND lived in one of the Kensington Palace grace-and-favor pads so he would be pretty close to hand for consultations/toy soldiering re-enactments (as required) for decades to come.

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A show called The Frankenstein Chronicles has just appeared on Netflix, and I'm giving it a look since it stars Sean Bean.  Vanessa Kirby appears within the first few scenes, which I suppose means she is going to be the love interest.  

Sidenote: I really wish they would remake Sharpe's Rifles.  

Edited by PeterPirate
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17 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

A show called The Frankenstein Chronicles has just appeared on Netflix, and I'm giving it a look since it stars Sean Bean.  Vanessa Kirby appears within the first few scenes, which I suppose means she is going to be the love interest.  

Sidenote: I really wish they would remake Sharpe's Rifles.  

I just picked out VK in a FC episode we were watching last night.  I looked her up on IMDB and yelled, "Princess Margaret!!!!"  

On 3/10/2018 at 8:53 PM, AZChristian said:

And I'd like to nominate Charles Dance for the last two seasons as Philip.

That's perfect - his looks, demeanor. 

As to Hugh Laurie for middle-aged Philip...it doesn't work for me. I like Hugh but it doesn't strike me that he is right for this role. But what do I know.

This is being reported by lots of media outlets so it looks like it will happen. I'm starting to get concerned that the change in cast will bring a very different tone to S3. And that could be a good thing or a not-so-good thing.  

Edited by Ellaria Sand
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2 hours ago, Ellaria Sand said:

That's perfect - his looks, demeanor. 

As to Hugh Laurie for middle-aged Philip...it doesn't work for me. I like Hugh but it doesn't strike me that he is right for this role. But what do I know.

This is being reported by lots of media outlets so it looks like it will happen. I'm starting to get concerned that the change in cast will bring a very different tone to S3. And that could be a good thing or a not-so-good thing.  

I think Hugh Laurie is an amazing actor...but I just don't feel that he's right for this role.  That might be, in part, because he (Hugh Laurie) is such a character himself and I'll always see that when I see his Prince Philip, if he's cast.

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John Lithgow is one of the voices on John Oliver's book A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo (along with Jim Parsons, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jeff Garlin, Ellie Kemper, Jack McBrayer, and RuPaul).

You can download the audio book at audible for $1.99 or the kindle version at amazon for $11.99.

The hardcover book is now sold out on both amazon and Chronicle Books but both sites say it's only temporarily out of stock (amazon says it will be back in stock in 1-3 weeks). You can download the ebook if you donate $11.99 to The Trevor Project or AIDS United.

All proceeds go to The Trevor Project and AIDS United.

A+ for the two website names that John Oliver bought for this project:

https://betterbundobook.com/
http://www.focusonthefurmily.com

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16 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

The latest Philip is Tobias Menzies. I like him a lot, so I hope this one sticks.

 https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/03/netflix-the-crown-prince-philip-season-3?mbid=social_twitter

I am THRILLED with this news. I love him and he will be fabulous as Prince Philip because he is fabulous in everything.

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On 12/25/2017 at 8:29 AM, dubbel zout said:

It was. Firth should have won for A Single Man—it was the better movie all around.

I thought The King's Speech was a nice film, but its winning the Oscar really irked me. There was nothing to it except nice costumes and charming actors playing charming stiff-upper-lippedness. Complete Oscar-bait.

Edited by beanyk
6 hours ago, beanyk said:

I thought The King's Speech was a nice film, but its winning the Oscar really irked me. There was nothing to it except nice costumes and charming actors playing charming stiff-upper-lippedness. Complete Oscar-bait.

I have no issue with Colin Firth winning the Oscar for Best Actor but The Social Network was, by far the better film and should have won Best Picture.

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