When it was announced that Claire Foy and Matt Smith leaving Netflix’s smash hit show The Crown, with older actors being cast to play Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip going forward, it soon became clear that Olivia Colman was set to play the former.
But what about the latter? The speculation in that case started to point at Paul Bettany, and he was soon revealed to be in talks to take the role on. But he ultimately turned it down, and has explained why in a new interview with Christine Lampard on the Lorraine TV show. As it turns out, he fancied the job, but couldn’t fit it in.
“We discussed it”, he confirmed. “We just couldn’t come to terms on dates really”. And that it is “all the happened”.
He added that “100% I’ll remain a fan of it, it’s fantastic”.
Recently, the role of Prince Philip was instead confirmed to have gone to Tobias Menzies, and filming on season three is shortly to begin.