Gillian Anderson's Unexpected Exit Throws The Crown Season 6 Into Chaos
After playing Margaret Thatcher for 6 seasons, the actress refuses to return to the show.
The Crown is an ambitious series that aims to chronicle the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II from 1947 to the 21st century.
It is also one of the most successful shows on Netflix, having been viewed on 73 million accounts worldwide since its release. However, the production of its final sixth season is now facing several challenges.
It was already mired in controversies regarding its upcoming portrayal of Princess Diana's fatal car crash and the surrounding events, an issue so contentious that it caused problems even before anyone saw The Crown's take on it!
Now the series has suffered another setback that could pose serious problems for the sprawling historical drama with a massive cast. Gillian Anderson, who previously played Margaret Thatcher on The Crown and received a lot of praise for her portrayal of the legendary British prime minister, is refusing to return for Season 6.
Thatcher was supposed to appear in an episode covering the golden anniversary of Elizabeth and Prince Philip, but Gillian Anderson is no longer available.
It is not entirely clear why Gillian decided to leave the series. She may be too busy with other projects, such as her audio show and book deals, or she might be overwhelmed by the charitable work she's been undertaking. Finding a replacement for her was deemed impractical. Instead, clever scripting was used to skip the scene that would have historically involved Thatcher.
During the aforementioned golden anniversary in 1997, there were two ceremonial dinners – one on 19 November and the second on 20 November. Historically, Thatcher only attended the former. Thus, the showrunners shifted the scene they planned to film to the latter event.
However, this change required altering the speeches given by Elizabeth and Philip on those dates. In general, rewriting scenes mid-production is a common recipe for chaos. It remains to be seen whether the show can recover from this setback gracefully. So far, there is no confirmed release date for Season 6 of The Crown, but it is expected to air in October or November this year.