Matt Smith wasn’t the choice for a lead role that The Crown creator Peter Morgan had in mind…
Matt Smith’s biggest post-Doctor Who role to date – with apologies to, er, Terminator: Genisys – has been playing Prince Philip in the wildly-successful Netflix period drama, The Crown. But the creator of the show, Peter Morgan, has now revealed that he wasn’t sold on casting the actor in the first place.
At a BAFTA Masterclass, Morgan talked about casting Smith and Claire Foy in the two lead roles of the show. He did concede that when he saw Foy and Smith together, “it was really instantly obvious”. But added “I’m ashamed to admit, I needed persuading on Matt Smith. And then I saw him with Claire and their chemistry”.
Smith, thus, landed the role.
He and Foy’s time on the show has come to an end, though, with the roles recast for seasons three and four of The Crown. Olivia Colman will be headlining the drama when it returns later this year.