Oscar-winning actors, impressionists, and comedians – are just a few examples. A variety of actors and actresses have portrayed the Queen on film. Following her passing, here is a look back at television programs that have featured the monarch, from The Simpsons to The Crown.
The lifestyles of the Royal Family have long been a source of curiosity, having been portrayed on stage and screen in a variety of ways over the years.
Several actors have won Oscars and other honors for their portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Simpsons, The Crown, and other works, with the role earning them Oscars and other accolades.
Following the death of the monarch at age 96, season one of The Crown cracked Netflix’s global top ten, the streaming service reported. The series is now ranked eighth among English-language television series, with roughly 17.6 million hours viewed worldwide in the week ending September 11.
Following her death, production on the sixth season was delayed “out of respect” and will also be halted on the day of the funeral.
2016-2017 Claire Foy, The Crown
Claire Foy had previously been in Wolf Hall and the remake of Upstairs Downstairs, but she was a relative unknown when she was hired as a young Elizabeth in The Crown on Netflix.
From her wedding in 1947 and coronation in 1953 until the birth of Prince Edward in 1964, Foy depicts the queen in the early years of her reign with sensitivity over the course of two seasons.
Foy received accolades for her performance, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy, and went on to feature in films such as the Ryan Gosling-led Neil Armstrong biography First Man and the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo sequel, The Girl In The Spider’s Web.
The Crown – Olivia Colman, 2019-2020
Broadchurch, The Night Manager, and Peep Show: Olivia Colman is consistently outstanding in all of her roles.
After winning an Academy Award in 2019 for her portrayal of another monarch, Queen Anne in the black historical comedy The Favourite, the actress donned Queen Elizabeth II’s crown for the third season of The Crown.
She also earned prizes, including a Golden Globe, for her two-season performance, which spans the years 1964 to 1990 and includes the Aberfan catastrophe, Winston Churchill’s death, Margaret Thatcher’s election as prime minister, and Diana’s introduction.
2022 Imelda Staunton – The Crown
The fifth season of The Crown will likely premiere in November.
In The Crown, Staunton will portray the Queen as she faces multiple royal crises, including Prince Charles’s divorce from Diana, which occurred during the monarch’s “year from hell” in 1992, Diana’s death in 1997, and the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother within weeks of one another in early 2002.
Staunton has starred in dozens of TV shows and films over the years, including Shakespeare in Love, Vera Drake, and Pride. She is perhaps best known for her role as the evil Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films.
Helen Mirren – The Queen, 2006
Helen Mirren, star of Prime Suspect, portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in the 2005 Channel 4 miniseries Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II in the 2006 film The Queen.
The film was created by Peter Morgan, who went on to create The Crown, and focuses on the period following Diana’s death; Helen Mirren received an Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for her portrayal of a Queen struggling to adapt to the catastrophe.
Her Majesty herself must have approved, as the actress was awarded a dame in 2003 for her contributions to drama.
And her royal acting connections do not end there; Mirren played the Queen again, this time on stage in The Audience (also written by Morgan), in the West End in 2013 and on Broadway in 2015, starred as Catherine the Great in the Sky Atlantic/ HBO mini-series of the same name in 2019, and also played Queen Charlotte earlier in her career in The Madness Of King George in 1994.
Also released in 2019 was Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham. Her character’s name wasn’t precisely regal, but it was Queenie.
2012 Emma Thompson film, Playhouse Presents: Walking The Dogs
In its first season in 2012, the anthology of self-contained TV plays produced by Sky Arts, Playhouse Presents, featured this royal episode based on actual events.
Walking The Dogs, a comedy-drama, centered on Michael Fagan’s 1982 break-in at Buckingham Palace.
Emma Thompson portrays the Queen and, like Helen Mirren, must have impressed the real queen in 2018, as she was also named a dame.
She shares a portrayal of Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren, having portrayed the monarch in David Mitchell’s 2017 William Shakespeare comedy Upstart Crow. Like Staunton, she is also a Harry Potter alumna, having played Sybil Trelawney in the films. In addition to the films Nanny McPhee and Love Actually, Thompson is also a former Oscar winner.
2015 Kristin Scott Thomas film The Audience
Kristin Scott Thomas is known for her roles in films such as Four Weddings And A Funeral, Gosford Park, and The English Patient, and more recently for her appearances in the remake of Rebecca, the critically acclaimed comedy Fleabag, and the Oscar-winning Winston Churchill film Darkest Hour, is another dame to make the list (there’s a bit of a theme here).
Scott Thomas replaced Helen Mirren in the role of Her Majesty when The Audience was resurrected in London’s West End in 2015; the drama focuses on weekly audiences, or meetings, between the monarch and her prime ministers.
Jeanette Charles has appeared in various films, including Naked Gun, Austin Powers, and National Lampoon’s Vacation.
On film, not all depictions of the Queen have been poised and royal.
British actress Jeannette Charles, who is roughly the same age as the Queen, was frequently asked to appear in comedies due to her resemblance to the monarch; in her twenties, she reportedly had difficulty obtaining Equity membership because her appearances as the Queen were based more on her resemblance to the monarch than on her acting abilities.
Her odd occupation took her throughout the world as she played the part in films such as National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), and Austin Powers In Goldmember (2002).
In 2009, she appeared in season 10 of Channel 4’s Big Brother to surprise Brazilian contestant Rodrigo Lopes, who believed he was seeing the actual Queen for a task. He did. She left the workforce in 2014
Debra Stephenson – Alternative Christmas Message, 2020
Debra Stephenson, widely known for her roles in the television programs Coronation Street and Bad Girls, played a “deep fake” version of the monarch to deliver Channel 4’s alternative Christmas message in 2020.
Deepfakes, a video effect in which a person’s face is placed on another person’s body, has become more widespread in recent years and are used to make convincing, fabricated videos of high-profile individuals.
Stephenson delivered a warning about misinformation and fake news while portraying the Queen following the real monarch’s Christmas message. She also appeared to reveal her lockdown rituals (“Netflix and Phil”), gave her thoughts on Harry and Meghan’s move to the United States, and performed a TikTok dance.
2015 June Squibb – 7 Days In Hell
Kit Harington (Game Of Thrones) and Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) play opposing tennis players in a mockumentary comedy about “the longest and greatest game in tennis history,” an epic seven-day duel at Wimbledon. The film was broadcast on HBO and Sky.
June Squibb (Nebraska, About Schmidt, In & Out) portrays an untamed Queen Elizabeth II who gives the middle finger to the crowd.
2016 Penelope Wilton – The BFG
In the Roald Dahl classic, Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant require assistance from the Queen to prevent other giants from devouring children.
By entering Her Majesty’s dreams, they can gain her support and are allowed into Buckingham Palace, where she then assumes command of the expedition.
She is even oblivious to The BFG’s whizz popping. The royal was portrayed by Angela Thorne (To The Manor Born, Wallander) in the 1989 animated film, however, Steven Spielberg’s 2016 adaptation has Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey, After Life, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). Excellent, Your Majesty, as the BFG could say.
2004 Neve Campbell release, Churchill: The Hollywood Years
Canadian actress Neve Campbell, well known for her role as Sidney Prescott in the Scream franchise, portrays a young Princess Elizabeth in this 2004 spoof about a British court and war government comprised of idiots and traitors.
Hitler moves into Buckingham Palace and prepares to marry into the Windsor family, while a US Army soldier claims the cigar-smoking prime minister was an actor mimicking his father, US Marine Corps lieutenant Winston Churchill, a great spy who stole an enigma code machine.
In case you were wondering, it has a 4.9/10 rating on IMDB and a 33% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Actual Queen – 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony
Her Majesty has been on television an innumerable number of times throughout the years, primarily in news programs and on Christmas Day.
She escorted Daniel Craig’s James Bond to the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, revealing her hilarious side.
In the skit, the queen is greeted by 007 at Buckingham Palace and takes him on a helicopter journey across London to the Olympic stadium, where they both parachute into the iconic Bond theme.
Okay, she most likely had a stand-in for that scene, but the rest is royal history.
Tress MacNeille, Maggie Roswell, Eddie Izzard – The Simpsons
Are you even famous if you’ve not made a Simpsons cameo?
Lady Gaga, Simon Cowell, Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, Barack Obama, Glenn Close, Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Hoffman, Stephen Hawking, and Meryl Streep are among the most famous people in the world. Some celebrities voice themselves or other characters, while others are portrayed by other actors.
Throughout the years, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie have heard the Queen voiced by a variety of actors, including British superstar Eddie Izzard.
2009 Rosemary Leach – Margaret
The late British actress Rosemary Leach portrayed Her Majesty twice throughout her career, first in the 2002 made-for-television film Prince William and then again in the 2009 made-for-television film Margaret.
Leach, a stage, television, and film actress was nominated for a BAFTA and won the Olivier Award for starring in 1985’s A Room With a View and the sitcom My Family.
Jennifer Saunders – Minions, 2015
Jennifer Saunders captured the monarch’s funny side in her portrayal of the queen in the 2015 film Minions, in which the yellow heroes are recruited by the supervillain Scarlet Overkill on her ambition to take over the world – including the Queen’s crown.
