Claire Foy, who played the Queen in the first two seasons of “The Crown,” said she was “honored” to play “a small part of her story.
Foy played the monarch in the Netflix series before the baton was passed to Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton.
“I think she’s an incredible monarch,” Foy told the BBC’s Lizo Mzimba at the Toronto Film Festival.
“She unites people and she’s a huge symbol of continuity, dignity and grace.”
The British actress added: “My main feeling is to think of her as a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother, and really, I’m honored to be a very, very small part of her story.”
The first season of “The Crown,” which chronicled the Queen’s life from her 1947 wedding to 1955, re-entered Netflix’s weekly global top 10 chart following news of her death.
The streaming giant revealed that it had 17.6 million hours of viewing worldwide, making it the platform’s seventh most-watched English-language TV show for the week of Sept. 5-11.
“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is in the hearts and minds of viewers,” Netflix noted.
Foy won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her portrayal of the Queen. She was interviewed by BBC News while promoting her new film, “Women Tell All,” in which she stars alongside Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand.
Coleman, who took over the main royal role in the third and fourth series of “The Crown,” is also in Canada this week to promote her own new film, “Empire of Light.
She told Variety that she was proud to be British after watching King Charles III’s first speech since his mother’s death.
“From a British point of view, he did a really good job,” she said. “It’s all about love and tolerance and tenderness, and I think that’s what she always wanted and she’s done it.
“She made a promise as a young woman and she definitely kept it in such a dignified way that I think we were all impressed with what she did and I was thrilled that he gave such a beautiful speech.”
The Crown’s fifth season will be released in November, when Staunton will play the Queen in the 1990s.