Queen Elizabeth II may have died, but through the power of cinema, she is immortal.
The Queen lives on, not just through her own recorded appearances in documentaries and Christmas telecasts, but behind the faces of the many actors who have played her across the years in film and on TV.
Playing a member of royalty may sound like the crowning moment of an actor鈥檚 career, but what is it like to tackle a well-loved role such as the Queen?
Marlis Schweitzer, a theatre and performance historian who works as an associate professor at York University, told CTVNews.ca that it鈥檚 no easy feat for actors to play a historical figure known to audiences as well as the Queen.
鈥淣o matter what the actor does, their performance is going to be compared to the 鈥榬eal thing鈥,鈥 she said, 鈥渁nd people will nitpick 鈥 they didn't get the voice right, their nose is wrong, that's not how she moves, and so forth.鈥
She added that there could also be pressure from a figure鈥檚 representatives 鈥 in this case, the royal family 鈥 to portray the icon to their tastes.
The Queen is the longest-reigning British monarch thus far, having been on the throne for 70 years before her death this week, so it鈥檚 no wonder that she has been immortalized by more than twenty performers over the decades.
Dramatizations of the Queen鈥檚 life were given new vitality in recent years with the Emmy-award winning Netflix show 鈥淭he Crown." Claire Foy portrayed the Queen in the first two seasons, which follow the Queen鈥檚 life from her marriage to Prince Phillip in 1947 to the birth of Prince Edward in 1964. Foy won acclaim for the role, netting a Golden Globe in 2017, an Emmy in 2018, and two Screen Actors Guild awards.
Olivia Colman 鈥 herself an Oscar winner for a portrayal of a royal, with her performance of Queen Anne in "The Favourite鈥 鈥 took over the role of the Queen in 鈥淭he Crown鈥 in the third season of the show, and also won a Golden Globe in 2020 and a Screen Actors Guild award for her portrayal.
The reins will be turned over to Imelda Staunton in the upcoming fifth season. Staunton, an accomplished performer known for playing Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films, is slated to portray the Queen for the final two seasons of the show.
While the job of portraying some royals 鈥 such as Queen Anne 鈥 requires bringing life to a historical figurehead many are not that familiar with, Queen Elizabeth II is a royal who is very familiar to many audiences.
Some actresses have played on that familiarity to their advantage instead of trying to reinvent the character. Jeanette Charles may not be a household name, but she made her career out of an extraordinary physical resemblance to the monarch: the majority of her acting roles until her retirement in 2014 consisted of playing the Queen. Some of her appearances included a Saturday Night Live skit, 鈥淎ustin Powers in Goldmember,鈥 鈥淣ational Lampoon鈥檚 European Vacation鈥 and 鈥淭he Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!鈥
Another challenge for actors can be their own mythos.
Schweitzer said that some actors have such a 鈥渃ontemporary feel鈥 that it can get in the way of their performances as historical characters.
鈥淚 certainly can鈥檛 imagine 鈥淎merica鈥檚 sweethearts鈥 like Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock playing pre-twentieth century characters,鈥 Schweitzer said. 鈥淲e love them because they belong to our historical moment. They are our representative 鈥 they don鈥檛 belong to the past in quite the same way.鈥
This may be one of the reasons that actors who can tap into a different historical moment and still feel natural to audiences end up doing it more than once, like Colman.
Many know that Cate Blanchett played Queen Elizabeth I in two separate films, but she also has voiced the second Elizabeth 鈥 in a 鈥淔amily Guy" episode in 2012!
Rosemary Leach, a noted British actress, played the Queen in several TV movies, such as 鈥淧rince William鈥 (2002), and 鈥淢argaret鈥 (2009).
Penelope Wilton, of Pride & Prejudice and Downton Abbey fame, played the Queen in the 2016 film 鈥淭he BFG,鈥 based on a novel by Roald Dahl in which a little girl and an animated giant go on an adventure that includes a visit to Buckingham Palace.
And Emma Thompson, a woman who has always been at home in a period drama, having performed lead roles in both Jane Austen films and Shakespearean adaptations alike, played the Queen in a BBC special in 2015 called 鈥淲alking the Dogs,鈥 which was based on a situation that actually happened in 1982, where an intruder broke into not just Buckingham Palace, but the Queen鈥檚 bedroom.
鈥淧eople have always been fascinated with royalty,鈥 Schweitzer said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e raised on fairytales about princesses and fantasies about long (lost) kings returning to reclaim crowns.鈥
But why has this Queen in particular inspired so many actors and audiences?
It is the very availability of her character鈥攖he years she has been in the public eye and the knowledge we have of how her life has unfolded鈥攁nd the contradictory opaqueness of it that draws us in, Schweitzer said.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know Queen Elizabeth in the way we know other celebrities鈥攐r even royals,鈥 Schweitzer said. She explained that with someone such as Diana, Princess of Wales, 鈥渨e got to see behind the facade鈥攂ut the Queen doesn鈥檛 have the same opportunity to show herself because she is more than a person; she is an institution.鈥
This means an actor has a lot of room to work with. And sometimes, that work results in an Oscar-winning performance.
For her turn playing the title role in 鈥淭he Queen,鈥 a 2006 film that followed the turmoil in the British Royal Family in the aftermath of Princess Diana鈥檚 death, Helen Mirren won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
And in Schweitzer鈥檚 opinion, this is still one of the best performances of the Queen we鈥檝e seen on screen so far.
鈥淚t wasn't just that she looked and sounded like the Queen 鈥 a lot of that is achieved through hair and makeup 鈥 but she managed to infuse the Queen with such empathy,鈥 Schweitzer said.
鈥淚 felt like I understood the actual Queen Elizabeth better after watching Helen Mirren鈥檚 performance. And that鈥檚 pretty astounding, I think.鈥
Some others who鈥檝e stepped into the Queen鈥檚 shoes:
Sarah Gadon, a Toronto actress, played the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) in 鈥淎 Royal Night Out,鈥 a 2015 film that focused on Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth sneaking out to celebrate V.E. Day hidden among the people.
Freya Wilson, also played Princess Elizabeth, but in the 2011 Oscar winner for Best Picture, 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech鈥, a film about her father King George VI鈥檚 fight to overcome a stutter.
鈥淭he Queen,鈥 is also the name of a 2009 docudrama on British television, which cast a different actress as the Queen in each episode: Barbara Flynn playing the Queen during the 1990s, Samantha Bond portraying her during the 1970s, and Emilia Fox taking on the first few years of the Queen鈥檚 reign in the 1950s.
Jennifer Saunders gave voice to the role in the 鈥淢inions" film in 2015, a spinoff of the Despicable Me series.
Fred Armisen impersonated the Queen numerous times on Saturday Night Live, one time alongside guest host Elton John.
Kristin Scott Thomas portrayed the Queen in the British play 鈥淭he Audience鈥 after Helen Mirren, who had played the role for several years, retired from it in 2015.
