Olivier winner and Oscar nominee Lesley Manville will play Princess Margaret in the fifth and final season of The Crown, Netflix announced July 2. The stage and screen star will play opposite the previously announced Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II.
Manville succeeds Emmy nominee Vanessa Kirby in Seasons 1 and 2, and Golden Globe nominee Helena Bonham Carter in Seasons 3 (winning the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series) and 4.
Earlier this year, Manville starred in Tony Kusher’s adaptation of The Visit, or The Old Lady Comes to Call at London's National Theatre, prior to to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered theatres around the world. She won an Olivier in 2014 for her performance as Helene Alving in the 2013 revival of Ibsen's Ghosts.
Her additional credits include the 2018 revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night (which transferred from the West End to BAM) and Grief by Mike Leigh, both of which scored her Olivier nominations.
Her screen credits include Phantom Thread (for which she earned an Oscar nomination), Mum, River, Another Year, and the Maleficent series (appearing alongside Staunton in that as well).