It was a Crown double whammy last night (December 4), with Claire Foy joining Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show sofa and Matt Smith appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers an hour later.
The second season of Netflix’s epic royal drama launches this Friday (December 8), and though there are another four seasons planned, it’s the end of the road for its principal cast, who will be replaced by older actors for the next two seasons.
Despite being pleased that the positively regal Olivia Colman will be replacing her as Queen Elizabeth II, Claire told Jimmy she was worried that means we won’t miss her.
“You’ll forget all about me and the rest of the cast,” she complained. “You’ll be like, ‘who are they?’. We’re the warm up act.”
Never! You shall always be our favorite queen, Claire, like Adam West will forever be the best Batman.
Her co-star Matt, on the other hand, was more sanguine about his impending unemployment. This was perhaps in part because he’s been replaced before, but also because the person inheriting the role of Prince Philip is so impressive.
Just who that person is has not yet been announced, although Matt seems to be in on the secret.
“I maybe know,” he told host Seth Meyers, in a typically elliptical Eleventh Doctor style. “I don’t know if I know. I’m not meant to know, but I do maybe know.”
Good. That’s cleared that up then.
Matt did let a few details slip, though. Apparently his replacement is “incredibly handsome,” meaning Matt was “totally flattered” that this mystery gentleman will play an older version of him. Oh, and he’s also “brilliant.”
Check out the interview below and see if you can spot any clues we missed:
Okay, so handsome and brilliant, and presumably British. A few very wishful-thinking fans have their fingers crossed it’ll be David Tennant, which would not only turn his regeneration into Matt on its head, but also represent a Broadchurch reunion with Olivia.
Other names in the hat include Paul Bettany (The Avengers), Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street), Tobias Menzies (Outlander, A Night Manager), and Benedict Cumberbatch, who, at 41, is only six years older than Matt (not to mention has his hands rather full with Marvel).
Whoever it is will have to play Prince Philip when he’s in his forties and fifties, alongside Olivia as the Queen, in seasons three and four of The Crown. They’ll likely air in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Who’s your money on for the role of a middle-aged Prince Philip?
