The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki on playing Princess Diana in her final days in season 6: ‘There is a profound sense of tragedy when you play that part’
For Elizabeth Debicki, portraying Princess Diana on The Crown for two seasons created a sense of responsibility to be as authentic as possible for the many people who revere the British royal family.
“There is a profound sense of tragedy that lives in your body when you play that part of the story,” Debicki says. “But having watched it, which I recently did, and while the credits are rolling, I thought this was a really serious thing that we put on the screen.”
The two-part sixth, and final, season of The Crown explores Princess Diana’s final days before she perishes in a car accident. It premiered on Netflix on November 16.
Debicki believes it is a common experience for The Crown actors to struggle to “let go” and stop “observing” themselves while filming the show.
The pressure of capturing the British royals is intense, especially when depicting the loss of a princess to whom many people still feel connected, she says.
How do The Crown actors copy the real royals? Netflix show’s coaches explain
How do The Crown actors copy the real royals? Netflix show’s coaches explain
“The process of doing it together has been everything that you would wish for in collaboration,” he says, referring to working with Debicki.
He went into the final season also thinking about how the loss of Princess Diana is still a “cultural trauma” for “millions of people around the world”.
Abdalla says the sacredness of what The Crown cast is recreating is something to which he wants to give dignity.
