The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki: "I put off reading the scripts"

Reprising her role as Princess Diana for season 6, Elizabeth Debicki opened up to RadioTimes.com and other press about the process of getting into character this time around – and it wasn't an easy one.

She said: "It was a very different process. In season five, it was a cerebral experience to begin with. And by that, I mean I’m in my mind a lot more. I’m thinking through things a lot more. I’d done about a year of research, and then you come to work and you're trying to pull the pieces together – and you're watching yourself [intently].

"I think this is quite a common experience on The Crown, because you're playing a real-life person. There's this sort of grace period where you're doing it and you're thinking, 'Is it working? Are people buying it? Am I getting closer to something?'"

She continued: "I lived in the role and I played her for eight or nine months – and then there was this hiatus, which I think was about three months, during which I knew the scripts for season six were going to land in my lap.

"It was a really interesting time where I tried to release myself from the role and I tried to take a break – but looking back now, I realise it was impossible. It was almost like I was held in this continuum. I wasn't thinking about it every day on purpose, but I was probably processing everything and churning through."

Debicki went on: "And then the scripts landed in my lap and I actually felt this real anxiety about opening them up, because I knew what was coming and I knew what my task would be and I knew how very, very sad it was going to be for me on a human level to tell that story, but also on an acting level. And also, of course, the idea of saying goodbye to the character.

"I put off reading the scripts for as long as I could – but when I read them [episodes one to four], I read them all in one go, which is the testament of Peter’s [Morgan] writing. I was totally devastated when I finished."

Read more:

• The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki on portraying Diana’s tragic final days
• The Crown’s Olivia Williams teases final scenes of last episode

The first part of the final season will land on Netflix on Thursday 16th November at 8am GMT, and will consist of four episodes, with the second part of the season airing in December.

Debicki will be joined by Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed, who also died in the horrific Paris car crash. Salim Daw plays his father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, who passed away in August of this year.

The Crown season 6 cast also includes Dominic West as Prince Charles, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles and Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II.

The Crown season 6 part 1 is streaming on Netflix from Thursday 16th November 2023. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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