Josh O’Connor: 5 Things To Know About The Amazing Actor Playing Prince Charles In ‘The Crown’

The future king is taking center stage in ‘The Crown’ season 4! Josh O’Connor is fantastic as a young Prince Charles in the critically-acclaimed Netflix series. Here’s what to know about the dashing actor.

The Crown season 4 is out now, and the performances are spectacular. Josh O’Connor, 30, is once again incredible as Prince Charles, now 72, nailing the future king’s voice and mannerisms perfectly in his transformation. Prior to Josh, the role of the heir apparent was played by child actors Julian Baring and Billy Jenkins. As your binge of The Crown season 4 continues, HollywoodLife has 5 key things you need to know about Josh.

1. Josh is playing Prince Charles in just seasons 3 and 4 of The Crown. Josh made his debut as a young Prince Charles in the season 3 episode “Tywysog Cymru.” He looks eerily like the younger version of the royal, down to ears. The actor takes more of a central role in season 4 as Prince Charles marries Princess Diana, who is played by Emma Corrin, 24.

“I am thrilled to be joining The Firm for the next installment of The Crown. Seasons 3 and 4 will follow some of the most turbulent events in the Prince of Wales’s life and our national story and I’m excited to be bringing to life the man in the midst of it all,” Josh said in a statement when he was cast as the future king. “I’m very aware it’s a formidably talented family to be joining, but reliably informed I have the ears for the part and will fit right in.” Josh has a sense of humor!

2. Josh will not return for season 5. Like the series did between seasons 2 and 3, the main roles will be recast with new actors. The role of Prince Charles for seasons 5 and 6 has not been officially cast yet, but The Affair star Dominic West, 50, is in talks to play the royal, according to our sister site Deadline. Princess Diana will be played by Elizabeth Debicki, and Queen Elizabeth II, 94, will be played by Imelda Staunton, 64.

3. The actor was once a “banana specialist.” Before he made it big, he worked in the fruit and vegetable section of a supermarket. “I was a banana specialist,” he told Verge. “That job title doesn’t exist; someone made it up because they were taking the piss out of me. But I took it really seriously. There were only two types of bananas, so I used to advise people which one they should purchase. There were bananas from the Democratic Republic of Congo and somewhere else — I can’t remember where — but I always advised the Democratic Republic of Congo because I liked saying it.”

4. His breakout role before The Crown was in God’s Own Country. The actor, who hails from Cheltenham, England, played the lead role of Johnny Saxby in the critically-acclaimed gay romance. For his performance, he won a British Independent Film Award for Best Actor and the Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer.

5. He took a comedic turn in the 2020 film adaptation of Emma. Josh played Mr. Elton in the latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Mr. Elton fell in love with Emma, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, 24, and provided many laughs throughout the film.