The Crown's Best Casting in Years is Completely Ruined by Harry Potter
At least that's what fans say as they struggle to unsee Professor Umbridge in the series dedicated to Queen Elizabeth.
In the new fifth season of Netflix 's The Crown, Queen Elizabeth II is portrayed by Imelda Staunton — an iconic British actress who also happens to be widely known as evil Professor Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter saga.
And it is a problem for a lot more people than you thought. Few people can disagree that Staunton is a brilliant actress with an impressive portfolio, and her appearance is quite similar to that of Queen Eizabeth... but.
"I'm only 15 minutes in, but it's impossible for me to see Imelda Staunton as anyone besides Professor Umbridge," Twitter user strgto admitted, and they are not alone.
For many people, it is impossible to unsee Umbridge in the Netflix version of the Buckingham Palace, which is why fans flock to Twitter to inform the showrunners that Staunton, with all due respect, was "the worst casting" for Queen Elizabeth.
However, many people rush to defend Staunton and her performance, noting that she managed to combine "both Olivia Colman and Claire Foy's queen in her perfectly" as Staunton is giving "a complete acting masterclass."
Amid the wave of those who can't seem to get rid of the ghost of Dolores Umbridge, there are people who argue that "not once, not even a second, did [they] see Dolores Umbridge in Imelda Staunton's portrayal of the late queen."
Many people agree that Staunton's version of the late monarch is the best of the entire series. But the way the iconic Harry Potter villain has ruined it for so many The Queen fans that people urge Netflix to bring back Olivia Colman or Claire Foy, who used to portray Elizabeth in the previous season — purely for the sake of not associating the monarch with the villainous Harry Potter professor.
Staunton herself appears to hate her character just as much as the rest of the Harry Potter fandom does. The actress referred to Umbridge as "a bloody monster" and an "utterly deluded woman". However, she also appears to love to hate Umbridge, as she is usually pleased to hear that people despised the malevolent professor.
"The power of that writing and that character that she had was appalling. So I can understand that kids hold that very vividly in their minds," Staunton told Variety in 2020 when speaking about Umbridge as she was preparing for The Crown.
The Crown season 5 premiered on Netflix on November 9.