Gillian Anderson will play Margaret Thatcher in Netflix’s The Crown

From X-Files to 10 Downing Street

Gillian Anderson has been cast as Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix's royal drama The Crown. The historical series covers the life of Queen Elizabeth II, from her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947 to the present day. It is intended last for 60 episodes over six seasons, and obviously covering that amount of time will require recasting the main roles for different time periods. Claire Foy and Matt Smith originally played Elizabeth and Philip in the first two seasons, with Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies set to take over for seasons three and four. Previous prime ministers portrayed in the show include Winston Churchill (played by John Lithgow), and Harold Macmillian (Anton Lesser). Season three of The Crown does not yet have a released date. Gillian Anderson was born in Chicago, but grew up in North London. She will still always be best known for playing FBI Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files from 1993 to 2002, as well in as the relaunch of the series between 2016 and 2018, and in the two spin-off movies. She has most recently been appearing in Netflix's well-received Sex Education. Margaret Thatcher was British prime minister between 1979 and 1990. She died in 2013. Meryl Streep received an Oscar for portraying her in the 2011 biopic The Iron Lady.