John Lithgow in Talks to Join THE AUDIENCE-Based TV Series THE CROWN

The Daily Mail reports that John Lithgow is in negotiations to join the Netflix series THE CROWN, based on Peter Morgan's THE AUDIENCE. He would play Winston Churchill for the TV adaptation, helmed by Stephen Daldry, alongside Harriet Walter as Churchill's wife, Clementine.

Already in the cast are DOCTOR WHO's Matt Smith as Prince Philip with Claire Foy as Princess Elizabeth (the Queen during her engagement to Philip).

THE CROWN has been greenlit for two seasons so far, with four more waiting in the wings. The first 10-episode season is set to debut worldwide in 2016 and marks Netflix's first U.K.- based original series.

The series will follow the story of "two of the most famous addresses in the world - Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street - and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century."

The network explained that each additional season will feature a decade of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. Season one will commence with Elizabeth as a 25-year-old princess "faced with the daunting prospect of leading the world's most famous monarchy while forging a relationship with domineering Prime Minister Winston Churchill."

The project is produced by Andy Harries. Morgan, Daldry and Harries will serve as executive producers alongside Robert FOX and Matthew Byam Shaw.

A prolific stage actor, Lithgow just appeared in Broadway's A Delicate Balance opposite Glenn Close. Among his past Broadway credits are The Columnist, All My Sons, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Play What I Wrote, Sweet Smell of Success, M. Butterfly, Beyond Therapy, Bedroom Farce, Anna Christie, Trelawny of the 'Wells' and more. He starred in The Magistrate in the West End in 2012.

He is a two-time Tony winner, five-time Emmy winner, two-time Golden Globe-winner, and four-time Drama Desk Award-winner with two Oscar nominations. Lithgow is well known for his role in the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun and Dexter, as well as the films Footloose, Shrek, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Love is Strange and Interstellar.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride