The Crown was nominated as the best drama series at the Golden Globe Awards 2021 – the fourth time it received this honor – and we will know on February 28th whether it will finally win.
Seven actors in the series are also competing for acting and writing awards, including Olivia Colman, Emerald Fennell, Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin.
However, The Crown Club must be the most gold-plated clique in the history of television – as, surprisingly, each of the 22 British actors who were nominated this year has some direct connection to the show, whether by marriage or work.
What is surprising, too, is that this golden generation is overwhelmingly young – forming a brilliant cohort of sumptuously talented actors and actresses who will light up our screens in the coming decades, and which have clearly charmed the American public.
From Jodie Comer, who worked with Emerald Fennell of The Crown on Killing Eve, to Sir Anthony Hopkins, who co-stars with Olivia Colman in the new film The Father, the royal drama throws its tentacles in seemingly every corner of Hollywood. ALISON BOSHOFF reveals how all Globes lead to the Crown. . .
Each of the 22 British actors nominated for a Golden Globe has a direct connection to the crown
CROWN CAST
OLIVIA COLMAN, 47
2021 Golden Globes nominated:
Best performance of an actress in a television series, drama: The Crown, for her performance as the Queen.
Best performance by a supporting actress: O Pai, a film about a woman supporting her father who suffers from dementia.
EMMA CORRIN, 25
Best performance of an actress in a television series, drama: The Crown, for her performance as Lady Diana Spencer.
Emma Corrin’s performance as Lady Diana Spencer earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best TV series performance
ESMERALDA FENNELL, 35
Best director, film: Promising young woman.
Best screenplay, film, for Promising Young Woman. This drama about a woman seeking revenge after her friend’s rape is also running for the best film award, drama. She plays Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown.
GILLIAN ANDERSON, 52
Best supporting actress performance on television: The Crown, in the role of the US-born actress as Margaret Thatcher.
Gillian Anderson is among the seven Crown actors competing for the Golden Globe
HELENA BONHAM CARTER, 54
Best performance by a supporting actress on television: The Crown, for her performance as Princess Margaret.
JOSH O’CONNOR, 30
Best performance of an actor in a television series, drama: The Crown, for his performance as Prince Charles.
VANESSA KIRBY, 32
Best performance by an actress in a film, drama: Pieces Of A Woman, about a home birth that tragically goes wrong. She played Princess Margaret in the first and second series of The Crown.
AND ALL OTHER LINKS FROM THE BRITISH INDICATES TO THE CROWN
CAREY MULLIGAN, 35
Best performance of an actress in a film, drama: Promising young woman.
The connection with the Crown: the star of the 2020 dramatic film, Promised Young Woman, which was written and directed by the Crown star, Emerald Fennell, who played Camilla Parker Bowles. Mulligan also participated in the TV adaptation of Bleak House alongside Gillian Anderson, who plays Margaret Thatcher in The Crown.
JODIE COMER, 27
Best performance by an actress in a limited series: Killing Eve.
The Crown Connection: Comer is Killing Eve’s murderous star – and the second series was written by Crown actress Emerald Fennell. She and Fennell are good friends with Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge – who cast her friend Olivia Colman, Queen of The Crown, as Fleabag’s stepmother.
ANYA TAYLOR-JOY, 24
Best performance of an actress in a film, musical or comedy: Emma.
Best performance by an actress in a limited series: The Queen’s Gambit. The Queen’s Gambit was also nominated for best limited television series.
Anya Taylor-Joy received two Golden Globe nominations from Emma and The Queen’s Gambit
The Crown connection: actress Taylor-Joy participated in Jane Austen’s Emma Austen with Josh O’Connor, Prince Charles in The Crown, last year.
O’Connor played Mr Elton and the two quickly became friends, forming a WhatsApp group that is still going on.
DAISY EDGAR-JONES, 22
Best performance of an actress in a limited series: Normal people.
Daisy Edgar-Jones, portrayed with her co-star Paul Mescal on Normal People, was nominated for best performance by an actress in a limited series
The Crown connection: debutant Daisy Edgar-Jones appeared in the 2019 adaptation of War Of The Worlds with Stephen Campbell Moore.
He was married to actress Claire Foy, the Queen in series one and two of The Crown, but the couple broke up after four years of marriage in 2018.
GARY OLDMAN, 62
Best performance by an actor in a film, drama: Mank over Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. Mank is also running for the award for best film, drama.
The connection to the Crown: British actor Oldman was married to actress Lesley Manville. She is set to play Princess Margaret in seasons five and six of The Crown. He also starred with Helena Bonham Carter in the Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
ANTHONY HOPKINS, 83
Best performance of an actor in a film, drama: The Father, about a man with dementia. Dad is also ready for the best movie, drama.
The connection to the Crown: Hopkins’ co-star in The Father is Olivia Colman, who stars as the Queen in series three and four. He also appeared with Helena Bonham Carter, Princess Margaret in The Crown, in the 1992 adaptation of EM Forster’s Howards End.
LILY COLLINS, 31
Best acting in a television, musical or comedy series: Emily In Paris. The series is also competing for the best television, musical or comedy series.
Lily Collins is running for an actress in a television, musical or comedy series for her hit Netflix show Emily in Paris
The connection to Crown: Collins was Fantine in the 2018 BBC adaptation of Les Miserables alongside Olivia Colman of The Crown as Madame Thenardier.
DEV PATEL, 30
Best performance by an actor in a film, musical or comedy: The Personal History Of David Copperfield.
The Crown connection: Patel played a small role in the 2009 TV series, Mister Eleven, in which Olivia Colman starred. He also connects to Colman through actor Hugh Laurie, who starred with David Copperfield and Colman in The Night Manager.
HUGH GRANT, 60
Best performance by an actor in a limited series: The Undoing. The show was also nominated as the best limited television series.
The Crown Connection: starring Sense And Sensibility and Paddington 2 with actress Imelda Staunton, who will replace Colman as the Queen in The Crown in series five and six. Staunton also participated in the Harry Potter films alongside actress Helena Bonham Carter.
JOHN BOYEGA, 28
Best supporting actor performance on television: Small Ax, also nominated as the best limited television series.
John Boyega was nominated for best supporting actor performance on television by Small Ax
The Crown connection: Boyega, raised less than two miles from Olivia Colman’s home in South London, starred with her in the 2018 animated adaptation of Watership Down.
He was Bigwig and she was Strawberry.
SACHA BARON COHEN, 49
Best performance by an actor in a film, musical or comedy: Borat, Subsequent Moviefilm. The film was also nominated for best film, musical or comedy.
Best performance by a supporting actor in The Trial Of The Chicago 7, which also ran for best film, drama.
The Crown Connection: Baron Cohen, a privately educated and raised in North London, starred alongside Helena Bonham Carter of The Crown in the 2012 Oscar-winning film adaptation of The Miserable. He was the innkeeper Thenardier and she was his wife.
JAMES CORDEN, 42
Best performance by an actor in a movie, musical or comedy: The Prom. The film was also nominated for best film, musical or comedy.
James Corden was an insurance fraud investigator in the 2018 film Ocean’s 8, also starring Helena Bonham Carter
The Crown Connection: The host of the chat program Corden was an insurance fraud investigator in the 2018 film Ocean’s 8, which also starred Helena Bonham Carter.
ROSAMUND PIKE, 42
Best performance by an actress in a film, musical or comedy: I Care A Lot.
The Crown connection: Some thought Pike should have been cast as Princess Diana instead of Elizabeth Debicki, who will take on the role in Season 5. She was at Watership Down in 2018 as Inle’s Black Rabbit – alongside Olivia Colman.
NICHOLAS HOULT, 31
Best performance by an actor in a television, musical or comedy series for The Great.
The Crown connection: I was on The Favorite with Olivia Colman. It also connects with Golden Globe nominee Hugh Grant, alongside whom he starred in About A Boy in 2002.
MATTHEW RHYS, 46
Best performance by an actor in a television series, drama: Perry Mason, a dark restart of the beloved detective story.
Matthew Rhys was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor in a drama for his role in Perry Mason (photo)
The Crown Connection: Welsh actor Rhys participated in the 2002 Deathwatch film with Matthew Goode, who plays Princess Margaret’s husband Antony Armstrong-Jones in The Crown.
Goode and Rhys, longtime friends, also did The Wine Show for ITV in 2016.
DANIEL KALUUYA, 31
Best supporting actor performance: Judas And The Black Messiah, film about the Black Panther political movement.
The Crown Connection: Kaluuya played agent Colin Tucker in the 2011 comedy Johnny English Reborn. Gillian Anderson, Mrs. Thatcher in The Crown, was her boss, Pegasus.
He also has links to The Crown via Psychoville, a TV series in which he starred alongside Dame Eileen Atkins, Queen Mary in The Crown, and Imelda Staunton, who will play the Queen.