‘The Crown’ Star Elizabeth Debicki On Finding Princess Diana’s Narrative In A Sea Of Subjective Views
21.06.2023 - 18:17
/ deadline.com
When Elizabeth Debicki auditioned for a minor role in The Crown, the thought that she might one day play Lady Diana Spencer didn’t even cross her mind until the show’s casting director planted the seed. Now, marking her second season in the Diana-verse, she’s paired her talent and passion for research to embody the troubled royal. Following Emma Corrin’s Emmy-nominated turn as Princess Diana earlier in the show, Debicki’s version of the people’s princess starts out much less hopeful—after an upsetting second honeymoon, it becomes impossible for Diana to ignore that her marriage to Prince Charles is failing.
DEADLINE: How did you get involved with The Crown?
ELIZABETH DEBICKI: I auditioned for a small part in Season 2, and I was in London doing a play at the time. Robert Sterne, the brilliant casting director, was holding auditions, because as you know, there are so many cameo parts in The Crown. I went in and auditioned for it, and did not get that part, but they saw something Diana-y in the audition, unintentionally. So, a combination of me doing bad acting and somehow good acting at the same time.
They called my agent, saying, “Not that part, but we’d like to keep her in the Diana-mix,” which was about 4,000 years down the road. So, I thought, ‘Oh, well, better luck next time.’ I had hoped, as one does, especially in the beginning of your career, when people say things all the time. They would say, “You know what? You would be amazing in this or that,” and there’s a piece of you that hopes it’s going to come to fruition. But you don’t really let yourself believe it, because then you’d be constantly shattered by a sense of rejection.
I probably told my sister about it at the time or something, but then about four or