Lithgow and Foy on new royal drama, "The Crown"

actor John Lithgow is a five-time Emmy winner and started more than 40 movies he's now taking on the role of Winston Churchill in the new Netflix series the crown he stars opposite Claire Foy who plays queen elizabeth ii the drama tells the inside story of how the queen was forced to lead after the death of her father in this clip we see the 25 year old queen meeting Prime Minister Churchill for the first time as reigning monarch do sit down Prime Minister I voted T or something stronger perhaps oh yeah did no one explain the sovereign never offers a prime minister refreshment nor chair the precedent set by your great-great-grandmother was to keep us standing like privy counsellors to waste time is a grievous sin a grievous sin we are very delighted to have included John Lithgow and their boy to the table welcome you too we're so interesting when they came to the green room John goes hi baby and I thought have you guys not seen each other in a while you said yesterday yesterday on Charlie's show but that's how tight you become but John it was it's been reported that you were intimidated by this part I'm thinking you're an Oscar nominee a Golden Globe winner and Emmy winner Tony when are you aware that you are John Lithgow and you know something about acting well yes for he's Winston Churchill that's true yeah I was intimidated and excited in uncle measure I like I think all of us were I mean it's a big responsibility playing these people and then you're American playing Sir Winston Churchill that was how hard is that yeah that was the hardest part but they were just incredibly welcoming in fact they had more confidence in me than I had in myself but I'm still they wanted an American because they wanted a different perspective true well our our our writer Peter Morgan he coined the term Churchill fatigue in England all the major actors have played Churchill they needed some kind of new spin so they hired a clown from America Claire tell us how you saw this but that young as a young woman who her father unexpectedly dies at age 156 yeah I think if there's sort of a preconception that I suppose she knows exactly what she's doing and I think she certainly does now but I think at that point she'd had no kind of apprenticeship into the role she had no real idea of the day-to-day job or the running of the kind of the ground and so she was massively unprepared I think and understandably grieving nervous and and really needed someone to sort of help her and is that what she found in Churchill definitely I think but what she really found in Churchill was what is what someone's agenda is as well I think Churchill was a incredible statesman and he showed her the way but at the same time she learned about politics and politicians through Churchill John do you think there was some sort of mutual dependency in some way absolutely Churchill at that very time became Prime Minister for the second time and he was Prime Minister at age 75 too old for the job he lasted until age 80 but only by sheer can eNOS he hung on to that prime ministership and one way he did it was the Queen's reliance on him so it was a kind of mutual interdependence they had for a while until she didn't need him anymore but it's interesting Claire because for most people most of us we know the Queen is the queen with her pocketbook and her courtiers they should've hired you so just here as a young girl in a fashion in love and she's kissing and there's romance she's kissing yeah kissing boys more than one and there's vulnerability there when you to say that you were intimidating you're British about taking this role well I think I mean I was more intimidated by the size of yeah the the scale of the show because I knew that it was gonna be big in the sense that you need when you're back there these people's lives you need that scale you need those seven thousand extras who needs the costumes and the rooms that they were in so that was the first 10 episodes take it through what year we're 47 to 56 56 yeah it also includes this relationship she has with fit looked up yeah yeah it really does and I think you see these people who are sort of from the very vote from their wedding so they were so madly madly in love and then they're trying to navigate their marriage and bringing up their children while one of them takes on one of the biggest jobs in the world I know at one point he's even told that being devoted to her it would be the highest form of patriotism that you could do for your country yeah and he sort of has a what about me a moment you know I have things I want to do too yeah I thought about that we're talking about Matt Smith yeah actor who plays the part just beautifully in fact it's very nice of you to have just the two of us but it's an amazing huge yeah the dynamic the relations Ben the two of them is really a spectacular part of this we heard there was a lot of laughing and giggling on the set none but everyone got along famously and had a really nice time making it didn't me no no she I for some reason I just made her laugh constantly yeah yeah of course when she laughed I laughed has any love nothing's and we just ends up but John how did you do that cuz in the greenroom Claire said you're not going to tell them are you I do have a secret among among actors for how not to laugh it's foolproof yeah and I taught it to clear but I think I'll keep it a secret any evidence any of the royal family pays attention to all of these movies and and plays about them and about the Queen we can only speculate I don't know how with all the publicity we're doing I don't know how they can miss it they do they comment do they express their probably not probably not that it's the the entire idea of the series is how private they are and I they tend not to comment on such things as a matter of policy and disposition there's a picture that you brought or somebody brought that when they came to your show yesterday you had trouble getting through security oh yeah we did we were Charlie show yeah they and when you go into the building their ID is out a photograph of the last time you visited oh yes you may remember this oh yes yes I do you missed King Lear yeah god I should clearly be terrified I wouldn't let you in the bill okay I think I'm gonna wear this security picture of the future I'm like what I saw it up like Dave Letterman bro yeah Jonathan joy thank you so much continued success good luck great series yes and the crown premiers November 4th on Netflix

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 536,351

Keywords: video, cbs, news, The Crown, John Lithgow, Emmy, Netflix, Winston Churchill, Claire Foy, Queen Elizabeth II

Id: QegYj93p3Ow

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 26 2016