Last year, Vanessa Kirby lamented that she had to give up the role of Princess Margaret on The Crown before trying her hand at a (mild) action sequence on the period drama.
“I was so desperate to do further on . . . because its going to be so fun [to enact] when their marriage starts to break down,” Kirby told Vanity Fair, explaining that she even tried pitching a fight scene between Margaret and Lord Snowdon. “I kept saying to [series creator Peter Morgan], Cant you put in an episode where Margaret and Tony have a big row, and she throws a plate at his head? Im so envious of the actress who gets to do it.”
As it turns out, Kirby wasnt joking about having that action itch. On Tuesday—months after ceding her Margaret role to Helena Bonham Carter, who will play an older version of the character next season, and wrapping a Mission: Impossible installment opposite Tom Cruise—news of Kirbys latest move came courtesy of the most unlikely source in Hollywood: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“Welcome the very talented @VanessaKirby to our HOBBS & SHAW Fast & Furious spin-off,” The Rock trumpeted on Twitter, an announcement that presumably caused Queen Elizabeths press secretary on The Crown to immediately faint. “We chopped it up and we had some GREAT chemistry together. Shes a sharp one—this is gonna be fun! #Kirby #HobbsAndShaw.”
The Rock linked to a Variety report stating that the actress is in final negotiations to co-star as the sister of Jason Stathams titular character, Shaw. (Johnson will reprise his Fast & Furious special agent, Luke Hobbs, in the spin-off.) While Kirbys characters first name was not revealed, we did learn her vocation: MI5 agent.
Incredibly, this is not the Fast & Furious franchises most left-field casting coup. Helen Mirren, the Oscar and Tony-winning actress who has played Queen Elizabeth on several occasions, joined the franchises eighth installment as Stathams on-screen mother, Magdalene Shaw. Could this mean that Hobbs and Shaw potentially features a family scene in which Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret of alternate screen universes collide to play the most high-octane British mother-daughter duo of 21st-century cinema? One can only hope!
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Julie MillerJulie Miller is a Senior Hollywood writer for Vanity Fairs website.
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