Jonathan Pryce Net Worth

Jonathan Pryce is an acclaimed Welsh actor who has over 100 major acting credits in theater, film, and television. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began a successful career on stage before transitioning to the screen in the 1980s. 

He is best known for his roles in Brazil and The Two Popes, Emmy-nominated performances in Game of Thrones, and starring in multiple seasons of the popular Netflix series The Crown. 

Now in his 70s, he boasts an acting resume spanning five decades across mediums, which has helped him accumulate an impressive net worth we analyze today.

Jonathan Pryce’s net worth and early career

Pryce has amassed an impressive net worth of $16 million over his decades-long acting career across theater, film, and television. A glimpse into his finances came in 2008 when he sold a London home for 6.5 million pounds, demonstrating the wealth he has accrued. 

His road to acting success began early when he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Shortly after graduation in 1972, he began performing with the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, honing his craft across various stage productions. 

Jonathan Pryce is an acclaimed English actor (Source: The Guardian)

His breakthrough role came in 1976, playing Hamlet, which earned him the coveted Laurence Olivier Award and catapulted him to fame in the theater world. In the 1980s, he began translating his theater acclaim to the screen. 

His starring role in the Terry Gilliam dystopian film Brazil proved to be a career-defining performance, earning him BAFTA and Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards. 

This launched a prolific screen career over the next decades, with memorable parts in Glengarry Glen Ross, Evita, Pirates of the Caribbean, and other hits. 

His over 100 acting credits across mediums have made him an internationally renowned performer and bolstered his multi-million dollar net worth.

Jonathan Pryce’s career resurgence and acclaim

After decades as an acclaimed character actor, Pryce entered a stunning late-career renaissance beginning in 2015 in his late 60s. That year, he took on the game-changing role of the High Sparrow in Game of Thrones’ fifth season. 

Drawn to the part’s influence on the epic fantasy’s complex plots, the self-described skeptic had a change of heart after thriving in the show’s creative environment. 

At the same time, he returned to his theatrical roots by performing alongside his daughter Phoebe in The Merchant of Venice at the prestigious Globe Theatre. He continued balancing prestigious stage and screen roles over the next years. 

Jonathan Pryce as the high sparrow in ‘Game of Thrones’ (Source: E! News)

In 2018, he starred opposite Dame Eileen Atkins in the acclaimed two-hander play The Height of the Storm on London’s West End and later on Broadway. Critics praised Pryce’s “achingly sensitive” portrayal of an elderly man with dementia.  

His most triumphant role came in 2019 as Pope Francis in The Two Popes film, earning career-first Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his uncanny embodiment of the pontiff. 

That same year, it was announced Pryce would portray Prince Philip in seasons 5 and 6 of Netflix’s hit drama The Crown. As the Duke of Edinburgh, he has earned more accolades, including Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations.

Jonathan Pyrce was the last actor to play Prince Philip in ‘The Crown’

Pryce takes over the role of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the fifth and sixth seasons of the acclaimed Netflix drama The Crown. He succeeds actors Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies, who each portrayed Philip in earlier seasons covering his younger years. 

Now in his late 70s, he plays Philip later in life through the 1990s and early 2000s. Securing the talented Welsh actor to play the Duke in his final seasons was a coup for The Crown. 

He brought immense acting chops to the part, having won acclaim for prestigious roles spanning from Broadway to Hollywood. In interviews, Pryce admitted the “daunting prospect” of following previous actors’ memorable performances as Philip. 

Jonathan Pyrce as Prince Philip alongside Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth (Source: The Telegraph)

Critics praised his nuanced take, showing Philip’s later years balancing his stubbornness and softer side. Interestingly, Pryce was not originally a monarchist or fan of the British royal family before joining The Crown. 

Yet playing Philip gave him insight into the man behind the controversial public comments. While it did not make Pryce into a royalist, he says it reinforced his view and helped him understand the real Philip more as a husband and father. 

As the last actor to ever play the Duke, who passed away in 2021, he had the privilege and challenge of completing Philip’s story in The Crown’s final seasons. By most accounts, he rose to the task beautifully.

Jonathan Pryce disclosed that the royal family watches ‘The Crown’

As the actor portraying Prince Philip in the last two seasons of The Crown, Pryce has a unique vantage point into the British Royal Family’s reaction to the show’s fictionalized dramatization of their lives.

During a recent radio interview, he made the surprising revelation that members of the Royal Family do, in fact, watch the popular Netflix series. He shared an illuminating anecdote about an encounter with Princess Anne when he was knighted at Windsor Castle. 

Sensing her awareness of his role-playing her late father, Philip, Pryce felt compelled to apologize to Anne lightheartedly. Her cryptic reply that “it’s done now” showed a resignation to the show’s creative license and dramatic liberties about sensitive topics.

Jonathan Pryce was knighted by Princess Anne in 2021 (Source: The Independent)

This interaction speaks volumes about the royals’ consciousness of plotlines on The Crown that delve into rumors about their private affairs. 

The latest season stirred controversy by implying a romance between Prince Philip and a close female friend, raising objections that this was distasteful speculation. 

As debates continue over the show’s influence amid intense media scrutiny of the royals, Pryce’s story is a reminder that The Crown does not exist in a vacuum. 

While the series states it is a fictionalized account, its capacity to shape public perceptions carries real weight for its real-life subjects. 

The royals watching themselves dramatized on-screen makes this interplay between art and life all the more fascinating, if undoubtedly uncomfortable for them at times.