Charles Dance hails The Crown co-star Olivia Colman as new Dame Judi Dench

The actor will make his debut in the third series 
Royal role: Charles Dance stars alongside Olivia Colman in The Crown
Dave Benett
Alistair Foster17 December 2018

Charles Dance is delighted to be starring alongside Olivia Colman in The Crown — hailing her as “her generation’s Judi Dench”.

The actor, 72, will feature in the third season of the acclaimed Netflix series as Lord Louis Mountbatten alongside Olivia Colman as Elizabeth II and Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret.

Dance said he was excited to work with Colman again after they acted together in 2000. He told A List: “I first met her when she was playing a maid in Long Day’s Journey Into Night in the West End. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, this is a smart girl’.

“She has rocketed away. I don’t think it’s too much to say that she is her generation’s Judi Dench. Like Judi, she has a wonderful sense of humour but also works incredibly hard and takes the job very seriously.”

Leading lady: Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown
Netflix

He added: “The Crown is now like a well-oiled machine. It has got such a great cast and it’s building on its success.”

Dance appears in virtual form in Dead Of The Night, the new downloadable content for Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4. The zombie-themed add-on also features Bonham Carter, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Blessed.

Paul Bettany talks The Crown role

Dance, who played Tywin Lannister in Game Of Thrones, said: “I never thought I’d be voicing a video games character. Not at all. I’ve never played a video game in my life.

“I told my family and one of my older daughters was very surprised, she said, ‘Really?! That’s huge!’

Icon: Actress Dame Judi Dench
Getty Images

“I was at my local stationers’ the other day and the man there said, ‘You’re doing Call Of Duty.’ I said, ‘How do you know that?’ He replied, ‘It’s all over the Internet.’

“That’s when it struck me how big the video games industry is.”

The Crown cast and their real-life counterparts - In pictures

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