Olivia Colman has said she spent her first days on the set of The Crown trying to mimic her predecessor Claire Foy.
Colman is taking over as the Queen in the third series of the lavish royal period drama from Netflix, and she said that trying to fill Foy’s shoes filled her with nerves thanks to her award-winning streak as a younger version of the monarch.
She told US magazine Entertainment Weekly: “It’s horrendous. Everyone loves Claire Foy, so I have got the worst job in the world at the moment.”
Foy won a Golden Globe for her first series as the Queen and an Emmy Award last year for the programme’s second season.
Colman, 45, added: “It’s the same as any classical play you do, everyone will have already played that part before.
“The first week, I did feel myself trying to do Claire impressions. ‘What would she have done?’”
Colman, known for roles in TV shows Peep Show, Fleabag and Broadchurch and films The Iron Lady and The Favourite, for which she scooped an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Anne, said she was “incredibly uncool” about accepting this job.
She said: “The producers went, ‘So…’ (I said,) ‘Yes! Yes! I’m really excited! Thank you very much!’.
“I loved the first two seasons.”
The new series of The Crown will cover the period from 1964 to 1977 and will see Tobias Menzies take over the role of the Duke of Edinburgh from Matt Smith, while Helena Bonham Carter will take over as Princess Margaret from Vanessa Kirby.
Ben Daniels will take over as Tony Armstrong-Jones from Matthew Goode while Josh O’Connor will play the Prince of Wales, Erin Doherty will appear as the Princess Royal, Marion Bailey as The Queen Mother and Jason Watkins as prime minister Harold Wilson.
Killing Eve writer Emerald Fennell will play Camilla Shand, now the Duchess of Cornwall.
The new series will launch on the streaming service on November 17.