Netflix made a major gamble on its hit prestige drama The Crown, spending $100 million on the first two seasons of the series about the early years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in the United Kingdom. (Rumors pegged the budget as even higher, but creator Peter Morgan disputes those figures.) It ended up paying off in spectacular fashion, though, with the series debuting to major critical and audience acclaim. It capped off its hit debut with two wins at last month’s Golden Globes, for lead actress Claire Foy and for the show itself in the TV Series – Drama category.
The show’s first season left the Queen and the rest of the royal family in 1955, on the cusp of the Suez Crisis, and it’s been previously confirmed that the second season will pick up there and continue through 1964, which means that American history is about to go through its own significant period in parallel. As such, the first new additions to season two’s cast will include Michael C. Hall and Jodi Balfour as John F. and Jackie Kennedy, as Britain struggles to find its identity in a doomed time of international conflict and America nears one of its darkest moments as a nation.
Hall and Balfour join an already excellent ensemble, along with Matthew Goode as Princess Margaret’s husband Lord Snowdon. On the heels of the acclaimed Jackie, it’ll certainly be interesting to see what both actors can bring to the familiar, tragic story of the Kennedys, particularly as it relates to America’s firm political pressure against the UK during the Suez Crisis. All bets are off for the cast after this next season, however; Morgan previously told reporters that the show will recast its actors every two seasons to reflect the aging of its characters.
