So, it turns out those rumors were true: Gillian Anderson will play former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in season four of The Crown. After many months of what I am guessing was negotiations, Gillian finally signed on to the series.
Gillian Anderson will play Margaret Thatcher in The Crown Season Four, now in production. pic.twitter.com/OVCO8o2bVk
— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) September 7, 2019
On a completely superficial note, the photo they used of her in that tweet is so lovely, it hurts. I still contend that Gillian will be very good in this role. I also still want to see she and Olivia Colman go toe-to-toe in scenes, I think that will be delicious. However, the reaction to Gillian’s casting and statement have been passionate. And by passionate, I mean that most of the viewers want to remind The Crown and Gillian how much they passionately hate Thatcher:
If I were to tackle Thatcher, I would do it violently
— Elliot Burns (@ElliotBurns10) September 7, 2019
Can't we just pretend the Cow didn't exist….
— kath luxton (@lux3uu) September 7, 2019
The only "exploring beneath the surface" I want to see with thatcher is to check she's definitely still dead
— Crowsa Luxemburg (@quendergeer) September 7, 2019
This is the most conflicting thing in the history of forever 😂
— Josh Scully (@JSxully) September 7, 2019
You get the idea. You can’t ignore Thatcher if you are talking about this period of British history, so no one expected The Crown not to have a Thatcher, no matter how much they wish they could. I’m fine with Gillian using “complicated,” “controversial,” and “formidable,” in her discussion but I was taken aback by, “falling in love with.” Gillian spent a good portion of her childhood in England. She moved back to the states right around the time Thatcher took office but did spend her summers in the UK. Plus she’s lived in London almost exclusively since 2002, she must have a sense of public opinion on Thatcher. I don’t want to police her language in her own statement, but I’m just really surprised with her comments. I guess I’ll have to see how Gillian approaches her spin on The Iron Lady.
Or maybe this is The Crown’s tactic to keep viewers, to get everyone talking about how much they hated Thatcher and probably her American counterpart, Reagan. Kind of a “hey, look over her,” kind of way. Because the show has one of the best cast’s they could assemble and yet, they are still representing the British Royal Family who is sitting very much on the wrong side of history presently. It’s getting harder and harder to see the humanity in who these folks were considering who they’ve become.
“Presenting your Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan for S.4, The Crown”
Photo credit: Twitter and WENN Photos
I was in hives with the mystification of Tatcher by Meryl Streep and now I have to see Gilian Anderson fall in love with the ‘formidable’ woman?! No fanks. Glad I decided not to watch the Crown.
Maybe she meant she was “falling in love” with playing such a “formidable” woman. I could see “falling in love” with the part which is not the same thing as falling in love with the real woman.
She says “falling in love with the icon that defined an era” or so. So she really means Mrs. Tatcher as a leader, a monument of British politics. Which… well is not where my sympathies lie.
I understand that the actors must fall in love with the idea of the character though: she was a woman and it wasn’t easy for women to have power; she ironed her husband’s clothes regardless of her schedule; she was thorough and tough. All things that can make us relate to her. But ‘falling in love’ to me sounds revisionist bull in order to explain the fans how and why she is taking on such a massive twat.
Which she didn’t have to do, really. We’re adults, we know someone has to play the villains… 🙂
I am old enough to remember how problematic Thatcher and her policies were (and they are many), however she as a woman achieved so much in an era defined by its misogyny. I can see why actors would relish playing her – its a role that requires acting chops from a character actor.
This is my take on it, also. I’m sure it’s a tough role to tackle. I hope Gillian does notr have to explain herself.
I am actually looking forward to this as I think Gillian Anderson is one of the only people who call pull of Maggie T’s haughty sounding voice.
I will most def not be falling in love with MT but nevertheless, yay Gillian! Also, I need season 2 of Sex Education. ASAP.
Gillian is too beautiful to play Thatcher. She will need lots of uglifying makeup imo.
Gillian’s partner Peter Morgan is the creator of the crown. I wonder if she particularly asked for the role? Or if he came home one day and thought oh actually my other half reminds me of Margaret Thatcher?!
I was ready to bitch about why they could not hire an actress that is really the age Thatcher was, but turns out Gillian Anderson is 51 so almost exact age Thatcher was when she first became Prime Minister. I wish I could age like those Hollywood ladies. On another topic I think with Thatcher and Reagan downfall of Western Democracy began.
I adore Gillian and she looks so great. As far as falling in love with Thatcher, actors always say that they have to love the role they are playing and see the good qualities in them, blah, blah. I seriously doubt Gillian is a fan of Thatcher ‘s politics.
She looks absolutely fabulous. Always surprised David Duchuvney (sp.?) got so many more roles than she did after their show was done (nothing against him). I’d love to see her play queen.
“..most of the viewers want to remind The Crown and Gillian how much they passionately hate Thatcher..” – I wouldn’t assess the opinions of the viewers or the nation on the basis of people on Twitter. She was essentially from a working-class family, she grew up above a shop in the Midlands, her heritage was not posh English it contained Welsh and Irish, and she became one of the first female leaders of a major Western country at time when women were discriminated against much more than now, and that was 40 years ago. 40. 40 years later the United States still hasn’t had a female leader. There is a lot to be impressed with by Mrs T. I bet she would have less hate if she were a man too. Even one of those twitter posts was calling her a ‘cow’, people don’t talk about men like that.
One of the things people appreciate is that she had backbone and meant what she said. How many modern politicians do that?