Playing Queen Elizabeth on The Crown must come with a lot of pressure, especially because she was the reigning queen of England up until last year. However, Imelda Staunton faced a challenge that Claire Foy and Olivia Colman did not as she was playing the monarch and working on the show when she died. Now, the actress has opened up about what it was like to portray the Royal Family matriarch and work on Season 6 of The Crown following the queen’s death.
Following Season 6's premiere, Imelda Staunton – who joined The Crown cast in Season 5 and took over the role of The Queen from Olivia Colman – opened up about playing Queen Elizabeth, especially during a time of transition. Reflecting on the day she found out the monarch had died during an interview on The Graham Norton Show, the actress said:
The general fact that Staunton was playing The Queen on the show that’s among Netflix’s best series when she passed away must have been a lot to take in. However, considering the subject matter of the season, and the fact that she was playing Queen Elizabeth during the most modern part of her story, it must have added an extra layer of difficulty and emotion.
The final two parts of The Crown found themselves on Netflix’s 2023 TV schedule for November and December releases, which means they came out a little over a year after Queen Elizabeth died. Season 6, Part One, deals with the tragic death of Princess Diana, while Part Two focuses on the monarch’s reflection on her legacy, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s college years and the wedding of the now-King Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Speaking about going back to set, and putting on her costume, which resembled outfits The Queen wore up until her death, Imelda Staunton explained how her presence impacted people on set too; she said:
When she referenced “The Shape,” she was referring to Queen Elizabeth's iconic look in her later years, and Graham Norton pointed out that this was the version of the monarch we’re all the most familiar with. That’s likely why this was so hard for everyone working on the set of The Crown following the death of the country’s longtime ruler.
Imelda Staunton finished out her discussion on this topic by simply saying that it was “hard” to shoot the final season after The Queen had passed away. However, they continued production, and now the final season of The Crown is available to stream with a Netflix subscription.