red MAN
confident, we’ll take the audience
with us,’ he says. ‘Hopefully, within
one episode, they’ll go, “Okay, it’s
this lot now.” We wanted to honour
what the others had done but make
our own show.’
The Crown’s first series started out
set in 1947, while the third begins in
1964, and the fifth will begin in the
1980s – which explains the need to recast characters
every two series.
This time around, Prince Philip is in his 40s, as is
Menzies, while Colman’s Queen is approaching that
decade. One of Menzies’ favourite moments is in episode
seven, set in 1969. ‘It’s built around the moon landings,
which throws Prince Philip into self-reflection, which
you don’t see often,’ he explains. ‘Peter Morgan’s writing
for that episode is beautiful; he juxtaposes things that
you wouldn’t think would live alongside each other,
such as the royal family and the moon landings. That’s
the show’s brilliance.’
When Menzies landed the role of Prince Philip,
he called Philip 1.0, Matt Smith. They had appeared
on stage together in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys
in the mid-2000s, and were friends. He didn’t explicitly
ask Smith for tips, but says, ‘I loved what Matt did, and
I think I tried to nick a few ideas from how he played it,
but it was 20% Matt and 80% the real guy.’
Like Prince Philip himself, Menzies comes across as
a bit of an enigma. There’s not a lot out there about his
private life, and he’s happy for it to stay that way. ‘I guess
I’m naturally reticent about putting my personal
life in the public domain and, in that regard,
maybe I’m similar to him,’ he says. ‘I’ve always
felt that if people know a lot about you, it has
an effect on their ability to accept you as a
character.’ He adds, ‘My hero would be [Daniel]
Day-Lewis, in that I’m someone who just wants
the work to be the thing. Also, there’s not much
to tell about my private life, to be honest – there
are no bodies!’ he whispers conspiratorially.
Menzies’ turn as the Duke of Edinburgh
is extraordinary. The accuracy of his voice,
the shock of blond hair in contrast to his
natural brown – an expensive-looking wig
that took an hour-and-a-half to apply – and
the precision in his scene-shattering facial
expressions is a masterclass in character
acting. His first scene with Colman
showcases the precision of his withering
looks, as well as signposting the transition
from Smith to Menzies.
‘It’s quite a technical role,’ he admits. ‘There’s
a vocal issue because everyone knows what they
sound like – or they think they do, in that Spitting
Image way. You want to get close to what he
sounds like, but without it being
pastiche or clichéd.’
On set for seven months, he wasn’t
tempted to go fully method, nor did
he catch the rest of the cast chatting
in an RP accent over lunch – not even
the ‘Queen’ herself. ‘Olivia’s a very
down-to-earth person,’ he laughs.
The pair had worked together
before on BBC One’s The Night Manager, for which
Colman won a Golden Globe. ‘It felt great to team up
again,’ he says. As for the rest of the cast, he’s equally
complimentary. Helena’s ‘done so much amazing work’,
while Colman and Marion Bailey [who plays the Queen
Mother] ‘are people who know what it is to be brilliant at
their job’. They all get on well, too. ‘We are a harmonious
group, who enjoy one another’s company,’ he enthuses.
There’s even talk of them watching a screening of the
new series en masse. They’re already well into filming
season four, with Gillian Anderson coming in as Margaret
Thatcher, and Emma Corrin as Diana, Princess of Wales.
Menzies says returning for season four was like coming
back to an old friend. ‘It felt different and the same; it
was like we’d never left,’ he explains. ‘But we’re going
into a different period. The look is changing.’
With the cast getting older in seasons five and six, has
Menzies already earmarked who he’d like to succeed him
in the next chapter of Prince Philip’s life? ‘You know who
I thought would be great? Bill Nighy,’ he says proudly.
‘It’s not a bad shout, is it? You heard it here first.’
The Crown is on Netflix from 17th November‘I LOVED WHAT
MATT DID
AND I TRIED
TO NICK
A FEW IDEAS’
PHO
TOG
RAPHY:^
JOSEPHSIN
CLAI
R/CAMERAPRESS