“The Crown” Season 5 will be a family affair: Dominic West, who is playing an older version of Prince Charles, will be joined on the Netflix series by his teenage son Senan West, who was just cast in the role of a young Prince William, TheWrap has learned.
According to Variety, which first reported the news of Senan West’s casting as Prince William on “The Crown,” the 13-year-old actor will portray a “slightly older” version of Prince William “as he begins to mature into a young man.”
Senan West will not appear on the show until the final episodes of Season 5, the season during which “The Crown” will dive into the tragic events surrounding of the August 1997 death of Prince William’s mother, Princess Diana (played on Season 5 by Elizabeth Debicki, who is replacing Season 4 star Emma Corrin).
Prince William was 15 years old and his younger brother Prince Harry was 12 when their mother was killed in a car crash in Paris with partner Dodi Fayed.
Dominic West’s son is a newcomer to the acting industry and landed the part of the royal heir when his agent sent in a taped audition during a nationwide search.
Along with joining his own father Dominic, who is taking over the part of Prince Charles from Josh O’Connor, and Debicki, Senan West will be added to this growing lineup of “The Crown” Season 5 cast members: Imelda Staunton replacing Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II, Lesley Manville as older Princess Margaret (previously played by Helena Bonham Carter), Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip (a role held by Tobias Menzies in the third and fourth season), and Jonny Lee Miller, who will be playing former Prime Minister John Major.
“The Crown” Season 5 will debut in November 2022 on Netflix. It will be the show’s second-to-last season, as series creator Peter Morgan and Netflix have announced “The Crown” will conclude with Season 6, following the reversal of an initial five-season-run plan.
The series is coming off a sweep of the drama categories for its fourth season at September’s 2021 Primetime Emmy awards. Morgan and director Jessica Hobbs won for writing and directing, respectively. Gillian Anderson (who portrayed Margaret Thatcher) and Menzies won in the supporting actor categories and stars O’Connor and Colman took home the trophies for lead actor and actress.
Netflix’s total of 44 wins tied the record for the most by any network or platform, which was first set by CBS in 1974.