‘X-Files’ Star Gillian Anderson Joins ‘The Crown’ As PM Margaret Thatcher For Season 4
The latest star added to the cast of the Netflix series, The Crown, is Gillian Anderson, the lead in The X-Files and The Fall. Anderson will be seen by fans on Season 4 of the hit series as Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister in the United Kingdom.
Slate says that Anderson will be the second American-born actor to play prime minister in the Netflix series, as John Lithgow played Winston Churchill during Season 1 and part of Season 2 of The Crown.
Gillian Anderson was born in Chicago, but grew up in England and Puerto Rico, and now has both American and British citizenship. Anderson will play Thatcher opposite Olivia Colman, who has joined the cast as Queen Elizabeth for the third season of The Crown.
Despite the fact that Season 3 has not yet aired, production is still adding new actors to the cast for Season 4 (the two seasons are being shot at the same time). Nearly the entire cast from Seasons 1 and 2 were replaced for Season 3, and so fans will get to see all new actors in the lead roles for the third season, which still doesn’t have a streaming date.
Gillian Anderson Set To Join ‘The Crown’ Season Four As Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher https://t.co/HdQxLz6VcA pic.twitter.com/IJ2xzgZ5WK
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) January 20, 2019
As filming started for Seasons 3 and 4, and new cast members are added, Netflix has shared stills of the new actors in various roles, complete with makeup and wardrobe as their characters, says the Inquisitr. Fans went wild when the streaming giant shared the first photos of Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth drinking her tea on the set of The Crown Season 3.
Colman is replacing the award-winning Claire Foy, who played the monarch for the first two seasons of the series opposite Matt Smith, the former star of Doctor Who, who played Prince Philip for the same duration.
Claire Foy explained that while it was hard to say goodbye, she knew from the start that she would shoot two seasons and be done because she would be aging out of the role as the young queen.
“This is the last stint. It’s over, I’m done. I always knew it was only going to be two series and then the part would be reincarnated and someone else takes over. That’s the nature of the part.”
Olivia Colman was excited and nervous to take over the role from Foy, who she had been watching in the role since the show started streaming on Netflix.
