Termed as 'Less Pretty', New Cast of 'The Crown Season 3' Opens Up on Replacing Old Cast

Netflix's much-talked-about and highly popular royal drama, The Crown finally returned with an explosive third season and we say explosive considering the immaculate starcast that has been roped in for this season as the show shifted gears from younger times to 'old times.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the drama which follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to, in the new episodes, her reign in the '60s and '70s — replaced its season one and two stars Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby this season as the characters entered middle age, welcoming Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter in their place. 

In looking for his new queen, creator Peter Morgan said Colman topped "a list of one," although she did present issues in having brown eyes rather than Foy's blue, which led the team to experiment with digitally replacing her eyes in order to match her predecessor.

"When we looked at it we didn't like it much, so in the end, we decided against it," Morgan told The Hollywood Reporter at the show's premiere at Los Angeles' AFI Fest on Saturday. "We thought, 'Listen, let her just act, it'll be fine.'" As for Colman's own personal preparation in stepping into Foy's Emmy-winning shoes, Colman teased, "I basically copied Claire."

Another inconsistency was the actors' heights, with Bonham Carter several inches shorter than Kirby, though she used that to her advantage when taking over the role of Princess Margaret. 

"I thought one thing I was going to be better at was being short because I am shorter and she was only five-foot, and I'm closer to five-foot than Vanessa Kirby is," the star joked, adding that she was intimated to replace Kirby following her BAFTA win for the season two performance. 

"It's a long way to fall. Vanessa was really helpful, she so loved playing her I felt like, and I knew she wanted to carry on but that was not going to happen it was like me adopting her favorite child," Bonham Carter said. She also wanted to bring dimension to Elizabeth's frequently frowned-upon younger sister, portraying that she could be funny, serious, haughty and royal all at the same time, to "show people that behind her misbehavior is a lot of pain." 

The creator also opened up about almost singlehandedly writing the series though brought in a few writers this season to assist in an accidental situation, as in a time of Peak TV, many of the writers that he wanted to collaborate with were "just completely overcommitted, and one or two would say, 'Yes I'd love to come and join you, I'll be free in 18 months.'"