Gillian Anderson considered to play Margaret Thatcher in The Crown

The cast list for the next stage of The Crown is shaping up nicely, but the role of Margaret Thatcher is yet to be filled. Reports suggest, however, that the part of the former Prime Minister could go to Gillian Anderson, who even bears a resemblance to the Eighties power player. 

The Mail reports that Anderson is being considered to join Olivia Colman, Ben Miles and Helena Bonham Carter for the third and fourth series of The Crown, which move the Netflix drama into the Seventies and Eighties. 

Anderson is being considered in part, the paper says, because of her relationship with the show's writer, Peter Morgan. Morgan, who also wrote The Queen, last worked with Anderson on The Last King of Scotland, which he wrote and she starred in. Neither Anderson nor Morgan responded to the rumours circling her casting in The Crown, although he did emphasis that their circumstances were different while making the 2006 film.

A source close to The Crown said: "Gillian is an excellent actress, so it would be a real coup to get her,”.

Anderson, who recently turned 50, is best-known for her role as Agent Dana Scully on hit Nineties sci-fi series The X Files. However, the British-American actress has won acclaim in recent years for her performance in The Fall and, on stage, as Blanche DuBois in The Young Vic's 2014 production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

The Crown is currently filming its third series, which is expected to focus on the breakdown of Princess Margaret's marriage to her then-husband Lord Snowdon and introduce a young Camilla Parker Bowles, whom Prince Charles met at a polo match in 1971.

Thatcher isn't expected to appear in The Crown until the end of the fourth series, as  the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party.

Anderson's representatives have said they "don’t ever comment on speculative casting".