Entertainment
Who is Sir Jonathan Pryce? Previous TV and movie roles played by The Crown actor-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
The actor’s impressive career spans over 50 years.
Sir Jonathan is the latest actor to assume the role of Prince Philip in the show (Picture: Netflix/AP)
The Crown season 5 will be released on Netflix in a matter of days, heralding the arrival of a new cast of actors portraying central members of the British Royal Family.
As the Netflix series edges closer to the present day of 2022, season five focuses on the 1990s and sees the third set of performers take on the roles of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip.
It is Imelda Staunton and Sir Jonathan Pryce who will step into the shoes of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April 2021.
Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki are also new as the then Prince Charles and his soon-to-be ex-wife Princess Diana, with Lesley Manville appearing as the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, and Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker-Bowles.
As the House of Windsor faces some of its darkest days and challenging times, who is Sir Jonathan Pryce, the actor portraying the family’s patriarch?
Who is Jonathan Pryce?
The Welsh actor has enjoyed a performance career for 50 years (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Sir Jonathan was born in Flintshire, Wales in 1947, to shopkeepers Margaret and Isaac Price.
Following a short stint at art college, he initially trained to be a teacher at what is now Edge Hill University, where a tutor spotted his performance potential in a college production.
After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, from which he graduated in 1971, he joined Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre Company and worked alongside the likes of Alison Steadman, Dame Julie Walters and the late Sir Antony Sher.
Rehearsing for Miss Saigon in the West End in 1989 (Picture: David Levenson/Getty Images)
A lauded theatrical performer, with two Tony Awards and two Oliver Awards to his name from multiple nominations, early stage successes included the title role in the Royal Court Theatre’s 1980 production of Hamlet, as well as starring as The Engineer in musical Miss Saigon in 1990 – although there was controversy around the use of yellowface.
After a successful career in movies and television followed, he was appointed CBE in 2009 before being knighted in the 2021 Birthday Honours.
What other movies and TV shows has he been in?
He has the distinction of playing a Bond villain (Picture: Keith Hamshere/Danjaq/Eon/Ua/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
Before he was officially cast in The Crown in 2020, Sir Jonathan had enjoyed a successful acting career in films and television stretching well over 40 years.
His first film was 1976 war drama Voyage of the Damned, but his breakthrough came as the protagonist in Terry Gilliam’s dystopian black comedy Brazil in 1985, with Robert De Niro, Michael Palin Bob Hoskins and Ian Holm.
His other films include Glengarry Glen Ross, Marti Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, and Evita opposite Madonna and Antonio Banderas.
Sir Jonathan was also in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (Picture: WALT DISNEY)
However, perhaps his most famous roles came as Bond villain Elliot Carver in Pierce Brosnan’s second outing as the spy, 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, in which he played Keira Knightley’s character Elizabeth’s father, Governor Swann.
He also made appearances in the second and third films of the franchise.
In the last few years, Sir Jonathan earned his first best actor Oscar nomination for his work opposite Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes as the future Pope Francis.
Game Of Thrones has made him recognisable to millions (Picture: HBO)
His TV work also began in the 1970s, and has earned him two Emmy nominations – for 1993’s Barbarians at the Gate and Return to Cranford with Dame Judi Dench and his future The Crown co-star Imelda Staunton.
Sir Jonathan was Cardinal Wolsey in the popular TV adaptation of Wolf Hall.
He will also be perhaps most recognisable to younger fans for his work as the High Sparrow in Game Of Thrones from 2015 to 2016.
What other actors have played Prince Philip in The Crown?
Tobias Menzies was the last actor to play Prince Philip (Picture: Netflix)
Sir Jonathan takes over the role of Prince Philip from Tobias Menzies, who played the royal in middle age throughout seasons three and four of The Crown, opposite Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth.
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Menzies in turn inherited the role from House of the Dragon star Matt Smith, who was the first actor to portray Philip from a young man, through his meeting with the Queen, their engagement, marriage and early family life.
He played opposite Claire Foy.
The Crown series five premieres on Netflix on November 9.
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