The Crown's Victoria Hamilton has joined the third and final season of HBO's His Dark Materials to voice Stelmaria following Helen McCrory's passing last year.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Lord Asriel's (James McAvoy) snow leopard daemon will now be played by Hamilton, who starred in the first two seasons of Netflix's The Crown as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
Hamilton has also starred in Sky Original series Cobra and BBC One's Life.
Related: His Dark Materials season 3 expands McAvoy's role
McCrory, who voiced Stelmaria in seasons one and two of the fantasy series, tragically died at the age of 52 in April 2021 following a long battle with cancer.
The news was announced by her husband Damian Lewis on social media, where he wrote: "I'm heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from family and friends.
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"She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air and thank you."
Following her death, the His Dark Materials production said in a statement: "We are heartbroken to report that the uniquely talented, #HelenMcCrory, who voiced Lord Asriel's daemon Stelmaria, has passed to another world after battling cancer. We have lost one of the finest actors of our generation. Our thoughts are with her family and friends."
The actress's career also included iconic roles such as fearless matriarch Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders and Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.
The sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders aired earlier this year and paid tribute to McCrory and her character with a three-minute long silence.
Though she wasn't there on the day of filming, Sophie Rundle, who plays Ada Shelby, said of the tribute: "It was very moving, and we very keenly missed her. But she's such an intrinsic part of this show and this story.
"You kind of can't move anywhere in the Peaky Blinders world without having sort of Helen and Aunt Polly, you know, there with you."
Peaky Blinders is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and Netflix. His Dark Materials airs on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the US.
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Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
