The Crown star Olivia Colman has admitted she has mixed feelings about the drama as it’s moved closer towards the present day.
Earlier this month, the first half of the award-winning Netflix drama’s final season began streaming, which takes place in the lead-up to, and aftermath of, Princess Diana’s fatal car crash in 1997.
During an interview on the News Agents podcast, host Jon Sopel asked Olivia – who played the late Queen Elizabeth II during The Crown’s third and fourth seasons – if the show’s storylines taking place in such recent memory is a “slightly uncomfortable” prospect.
“I feel uncomfortable answering questions about whether or not The Crown should have stopped before now, because I loved the job,” Olivia admitted. “It was a great job.”
She continued: “I’m not a spokesperson for the Royal Family, I don’t know them. I can understand, I can feel that maybe it’s too close to home now.”
After admitting that she’d not yet watched the most recent seasons, Olivia added: “The first two [seasons] with Claire [Foy], I particularly loved because they were historical, fascinating stuff, [where] I’d say, ‘I didn’t know that’. I loved that.
“And it has become more uncomfortable, but Peter Morgan writes beautifully, and I had a lovely time doing the job.”
Olivia’s former co-star Helena Bonham-Carter previously admitted to having similar feelings about The Crown.
“I don’t think they should carry on, actually,” she said earlier this year. “I’m in it and I loved my episodes, but it’s very different now.
“When The Crown started, it was a historic drama, and now it’s crashed into the present.”
“But that’s up to them,” she added.
The second half of The Crown’s final season will begin streaming on Netflix from 14 December. Listen to Olivia Colman’s full interview on the News Agents on Global Player.