The Crown casts Game of Thrones star Jonathan Pryce for season 5 and 6

The Crown casts Game of Thrones star Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip

It was recently announced by Deadline that Jonathan Pryce, the Oscar-nominated actor and star of Game of Thrones, has been cast as Prince Philip in the Netflix original series, The Crown. 

Pryce will play opposite Imelda Staunton, who is slated to portray Queen Elizabeth II and best known for playing Dolores Umbridge. Lesley Manville will also be joining Pryce and Staunton for the final two seasons, as she portrays Princess Margaret.

Previous seasons saw Prince Phillip played by Tobias Menzies and Matt Smith. Since the series has spanned over many years, the cast changes were necessary to account for the aging of the characters. The fifth and sixth seasons are expected to cover the 1990s into the early 2000s.

The Crown has faced many challenges due to the pandemic, but luckily, they were able to wrap up the filming of season 4.  It is expected that the fourth season will still air sometime toward the end of 2020.

As far as season 5 and 6, it could be quite some time before we get to see these episodes. According to Deadline, the series won’t film its fifth season until 2021, and it has nothing to do with the pandemic. The production schedule has always had a delay in the filming of the fifth season.

The Crown took to Twitter to make the announcement of Pryce joining the cast.

Pryce has had notable parts in Game of Thrones as The High Sparrow. He even played a bad guy, Elliot Carver, in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and also portrayed Governor Weatherby Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. His part as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio / Pope Francis, opposite Anthony Hopkins, in The Two Popes has earned him nominations for an Oscar, as well as a Golden Globe.

For fans of the series, it is exciting to see things are still progressing even with the shutdowns and uncertainty the world finds itself in.

What do you think of the casting of Jonathan Pryce as Prince Phillip? Let us know in the comments below.