The Crown almost used CGI to make Olivia Colman look more like the Queen
Plans to alter her appearance were eventually scrapped
Netflix
- Morgan Jeffery
Published: Sunday, 8 September 2019 at 10:40 am
Olivia Colman will be assuming the role of Elizabeth II when The Crown returns to Netflix for its third season – but there'll be one notable difference between the Oscar-winning actress and the real Queen.
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While both the Queen and the previous actress to play her, Claire Foy, have blue eyes, Colman's eyes are brown – something that the show's creative team considered fixing using a variety of different techniques.
- When is The Crown season 3 on Netflix? Who is in the cast, and what is going to happen?
- Gillian Anderson is confirmed to play Margaret Thatcher in The Crown season 4
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Colman was originally fitted with blue contact lenses, but director Ben Caron – who helms the first four episodes of the new seasons – told The Guardian that it was as if "she was acting behind a mask".
“It was as if we had taken all of her acting ability and put it in a safe and locked it away,” he said.
The other option that was explored was to use visual effects to turn her eyes blue in post-production. “But it didn’t feel like her," Caron explained. "CGI-ing her eyes seemed to diminish what she was doing.”
As a result, Colman's eyes will remain brown in the finished product, so viewers will just have to make that leap of imagination.
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The star previously admitted that she felt "horrendous" replacing Foy on the series. “Everyone loves Claire Foy, so I have got the worst job in the world at the moment," she said. “The first week, I did feel myself trying to do Claire impressions."
The Crown will drop new episodes on Netflix on 17th November.
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It was announced yesterday (7th September) that Gillian Anderson will appear in the following fourth season as Margaret Thatcher.
Authors
Morgan Jeffery
Morgan Jeffery is as a TV and Film expert and has appeared on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
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