The Crown season 3: Paul Bettany walks away from Prince Philip role
Typically when an actor gets so far into negotiations that their name starts to generate in the press, it’s a pretty strong indicator that the role is going to go to them. However, there are a few occasions in which something happens that complicates things and the casting doesn’t quite go as according to plan. This is one of those said occasions.
According to a new report coming in from TVLine, the reason why this gig for Bettany didn’t end up working is a similar reason to what we’ve seen with so many other gigs over the years: Scheduling conflicts. It’s really nothing more than that. There was a clear demand for him to play the role among fans the moment that they heard about the casting chatter, mostly because Bettany is a great performer and this is a complicated, nuanced role. There’s also enough of a physical similar between him, Matt Smith, and Philip for the part to make sense.
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Unfortunately, this casting just wasn’t mean to be and now Peter Morgan and the rest of the team go back to the drawing board. This is not an easy role to cast given that you need a fantastic actor, someone who has the availability for the next two years in order to play the role and also looks like Prince Philip. Like most other roles on The Crown, Philip will be recast for the fifth and sixth season. We get the sense that Netflix and the producers prefer known names, in part because they know they will be able to handle the gravity of these roles. It also helps to bring even more attention to the series.
The Crown season 3 has no premiere date and we imagine that Netflix isn’t going to rush this — the producers will take their time finding the right name and when they are ready to make an announcement, they will.
Are you shocked that Paul Bettany isn’t joining The Crown season 3, after all? Sound off in the comments and be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some other insight regarding the series. (Photo: Netflix.)