The Crown Golden Globe winner Josh O'Connor recalls that he nearly passed on Prince Charles role

What an admittedly "terrible mistake" actor Josh O'Connor almost made that would've cost him a Golden Globe win.

The Crown star, who portrays Prince Charles on the third and fourth seasons of the Netflix royal family drama, told E! News amid the virtual red carpet rounds of the Globes on Sunday about that time he almost passed on taking the role. Later that night, O'Connor won a statuette for Best Actor in a TV Series — Drama for his performance.

"It's kind of embarrassing, really," O'Connor said. "I think I was working another job and I got a phone call saying they were doing The Crown a little later on after series 2 and would I want to come and read for Charles. I mean, partly, it was a terrible mistake!"

Part of the reason he almost said no to an audition was he hadn't seen the show.

"And then I watched the show and realized it's incredible and what Claire [Foy] and Matt [Smith] did in the first two series was magic," he said. "I don't know where I'd been, I don't know how I missed this magical show. And I fell in love with it, and then I met with the guys and they convinced me and just said, 'This is a great part.' And they told me the story and the journey we were going to go on and it was just a no-brainer."

In addition to O'Connor's win on Sunday, The Crown took home Golden Globes for Best TV Drama, Best Actress in a Drama Series for Emma Corrin's portrayal of Princess Diana, and Best Supporting Actress for Gillian Anderson's Margaret Thatcher.

See all the winners from the 2021 Golden Globes.

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