“The Crown” boasted a cast of some of Britain’s biggest stars. The drama series, based on the lives of the British Royal Family, began in 2016, and its first season starred Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, respectively. As the timeline moved forward, Foy and Smith were replaced by Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzie for the series’ third and fourth seasons. However, Menzies wasn’t the first choice for Prince Philip.
Prior to Menzies’ casting, Paul Bettany, best known for his role as Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was in talks to take over the role of Philip. However, the actor had to drop out of “The Crown” due to scheduling conflicts. In an interview with Prima, Bettany said, “We discussed it. We just couldn’t come to terms on dates, really. [That] is all that happened.”
While Bettany did not go into further detail, the issue likely lay in the fact that filming for Season 4 of “The Crown” overlapped with the shooting schedule for Marvel Studios’ “WandaVision.” As the Netflix series needed actors to commit to shooting two full seasons, this would have ruled out Bettany.
Paul Bettany made way for Tobias Menzies
With Bettany unable to commit to “The Crown,” the then relatively unknown Tobias Menzies was cast as Philip in Seasons 3 and 4 instead. Although this meant missing out on a hugely successful series for Bettany, this casting ultimately worked out for both actors. Menzies gained more prominence since starring in “The Crown,” and has gone on to appear in Joseph Kosinski’s critically acclaimed film “F1,” alongside major Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem.
While Season 4 of “The Crown” was in production, Bettany was reprising his role of Vision for the 2021 series “WandaVision.” The series has been hailed as one of Marvel Studios’ best projects, and is often held up as its best Disney+ show. Bettany is set to return as the Vision in his own spin-off series, “VisionQuest,” due to debut on Disney+ in late 2026.
Bettany wasn’t the only star to miss out on a role on “The Crown,” though for one actress it led to a more significant part on the series instead. Elizabeth Debicki, who played Princess Diana in the final two seasons, revealed in a Variety interview that she had initially auditioned for a much smaller role. She felt “completely physically wrong” for the character, but was fortunately offered the more significant part of Diana.
