22 November 2017
Newsdesk
Matt Smith will miss playing British royal Prince Philip on TV show The Crown when he gets replaced by another actor.
Claire Foy and the former Doctor Who star signed on to play the young Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh for two seasons and will be replaced by older actors as the show continues, with Olivia Colman set to take over from Claire for the third season of the Netflix show.
Speaking at the world premiere of season two in London on Tuesday (21Nov17), Matt admitted that he has loved being part of Peter Morgan's series and he’ll miss the "wonderful journey" once it's over.
"I love him (Philip). He's cool, he's got an ease, he's got a swagger and a charisma and I think Peter found (portrayed) that so beautifully. I'll miss it, I will, and I'll miss playing him," Matt said on the red carpet.
Claire and Matt have become good friends while shooting the show and she shared that although they do discuss their scenes and characters, they tend to have more trivial chats on set.
"We mainly talk about chocolate and how much sleep we've had and how much we want a cup of tea," she joked. "He's an idiot but I love him!"
In the first season, Matt plays Prince Philip while he is struggling to come to terms with public life and living in the shadow of his wife, but he hopes by the end of the second season, viewers will see why their union has endured, mentioning the photographs released of the real-life royals this week to mark their 70th wedding anniversary.
"Peter shines a light on these characters in a way that isn't always easy," he said. "They're a family. They're royal, but they are a family... I think, in this current season, there will be some surprises and there will be things that make people go 'oh God, I don't like that', but they bleed like the rest of us."
The Crown season two is available on Netflix from 8 December.
