Tobias Menzies didn't "pay attention" to the Royal Family prior to joining 'The Crown'.

Tobias Menzies

Tobias Menzies

The 45-year-old actor has been cast as Prince Philip in the hit drama series - but Tobias has revealed his family have never been passionate about the royals.

Speaking about his mother's attitude towards the monarchy, he shared: "She was pretty anti the royal family. She would actively never put on the Queen's speech, so, as a result, prior to doing 'The Crown', they weren't on my radar. I didn't read about them or pay attention to them - they were just part of the furniture.

"There's definitely been a learning curve in that, with this job, I'm looking at them for the first time."

Despite this, Tobias insisted he doesn't feel conflicted about his role on the show.

He told the Sunday Times newspaper: "If you're interested in people, then - whatever one feels about them politically or in a larger context - you can't help being interested in that [royal] life.

"My mother would be ashamed of me, but there was absolutely no conflict at all."

Tobias also revealed he'd be fascinated to know what Prince Philip and the other royals make of the TV series.

He said: "It would be fascinating to know. He likes to talk about nuts and bolts, business, how stuff works. But as soon as you ask him anything personal or emotional, he won't go there."

Meanwhile, Josh O'Connor recently claimed that working with Olivia Colman on 'The Crown' is the "peak" of his career.

The actor - who portrays Prince Charles on the Netflix show - admitted it has been a special experience on set, and he insisted the Academy Award-winning star is incredibly grounded.

He shared: "Epic. I remember looking over and being like: 'Holy s**t! This is it. This is the peak for me.'

"You have to stop yourself midway through a scene and be like, 'I'm acting with Olivia Colman!'

"But then she's also got this amazing thing where they call 'cut', and she's like, 'Shall we have a cup of tea?'"


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