It’s time for a royal second look at Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II. Netflix has released a sliver of a teaser for the upcoming third season of The Crown, featuring the Oscar winner as the British monarch. Colman, in character, is pacing in a room, dressed up in an evening gown, a royal blue sash, and a crown that looks quite like the Diamond Diadem—an ornate piece that was made in 1820, and set with 1,333 diamonds and edged with dozens of pearls. You know, humble stuff.
This is the first major look at Colman as the queen since July of last year, when Netflix dropped a still of the actor on set, wearing a pink blazer and drinking tea, as monarchs do.
The teaser also, however, comes with a precious piece of new information: a release date. Season three of The Crown will debut on November 17. Past seasons have aired in November and December, so this premiere date is right on schedule. In those first two seasons, Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II, picking up an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance. Since the new season jumps ahead a few years in time, she was replaced with Colman. The rest of the core cast has been replaced as well, with new additions including Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Ben Daniels as Lord Snowdon, and Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip.
In an interview with Vanity Fair last November, Colman praised Foy’s performance, saying she was “in love” with the actor’s impeccable portrayal of the queen in the show’s first two seasons. Colman began preparing for the part by going through massive files sent by the research department and watching archival footage.
“You watch her move and how her movements change.… The way she holds her handbag,” Colman said. “I’m still not very good at physical copying. One of the directors kept shouting, ‘Queen, not farmer.’ So I’ll keep trying.”
If the teaser is any indication, she figured it out after all.
— Our September cover story: how Kristen Stewart keeps cool
— The lowdown on Lion King’s billion-dollar haul
— Why is Quentin Tarantino (supposedly) retiring from filmmaking?
— What the surfer-mom influencers of Byron Bay reveal about our world
— The horrors of Jeffrey Epstein’s private island
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story.
