Helen Mirren to don crown again as Queen Elizabeth II

Reteaming with Peter Morgan for new play

CBC News

Posted: Sep 21, 2012 1:31 PM ET

Last Updated: Sep 22, 2012 4:40 PM ET

Actress Helen Mirren, seen in Los Angeles in February, is set to don the British crown once again to play Queen Elizabeth II in a new Peter Morgan play. (Matt Sayles/Associated Press)

Helen Mirren is returning to what's become one of her signature roles, with the acclaimed British actress to portray Queen Elizabeth again.

Mirren has accepted the role of Queen Elizabeth II in a new Peter Morgan play called The Audience. It's slated to start previews at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End in February 2013.

Directed by Stephen Daldry, The Audience centres on the confidential weekly meetings held at Buckingham Palace between the Queen and the British prime ministers who have served during her six-decade rule.

Morgan previously penned the script to the 2006 film The Queen, for which he earned a best screenplay Oscar nomination and Mirren a best actress Oscar for her sensitive and complex turn as the reigning U.K. monarch.

The Queen revolved around the royal family's reaction to the shocking 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales. It is considered one of Morgan's best films exploring contemporary Britain and, in particular, former prime minister Tony Blair.

Along with The Queen, the series includes 2003 TV film The Deal (about Blair's relationship with colleague and rival Gordon Brown) and 2010's The Special Relationship (about Blair's dealings with former U.S. president Bill Clinton). All three works starred Michael Sheen as Tony Blair.

Mirren also portrayed an earlier English monarch in the two-part historical miniseries Elizabeth I, broadcast in 2005.

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