the throne, Charles. In one scene, his youthful
lament that he wants his voice to be heard earns
him a cutting rebuke from the queen.
The beleaguered Charles fares better with
his supportive and spirited sister, Anne, part
of the Windsor generation that’s adjusting
to adulthood and their royal burdens in the
tumultuous 1960s and ’70s. Erin Doherty (“Call
the Midwife”), who plays Anne opposite Josh
O’Connor’s Charles, said plunging into an
already popular series helped them bond.
“We met in a rehearsal and the sibling banter was
just there, and I genuinely feel like he’s one of my
best friends,” Doherty said. “I think because we’re
of similar ages in this really crazy whirlwind of an
experience, I feel like we kind of, in real life and on
screen, have to support each other.”
O’Connor (“The Durrells in Corfu”) noted that
he and Doherty both studied acting at the
prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (as did
Colman, all at different times), which may have
contributed to their “good chemistry.
“There’s something about a kind of actor that’s
brought through that (program), and we got
along really well,” O’Connor said, then added: “I
think everyone who’s seen (their relationship)
creatively has liked it, and there might even be
a bit more of it in series four, which would be
really nice.”
Colman, who stepped in this season for the
original Elizabeth, Claire Foy, is careful to note
that “The Crown” is an imagined version of
private lives. “I can’t say this often enough — it’s
us doing our acting job, us in a studio. From an
actor’s point of view ... it’s a part that I’m playing
and it’s a part that’s written beautifully by Peter
(Morgan),” she said, politely but firmly.