ROYAL TREATMENT
British actress Emma Corrin comes into her own as Princess Diana in season four of TheCrown, writes Michele Manelis
WHEN unknown British actress Emma Corrin stepped into an exact replica of Princess Diana’s wedding dress, an audible gasp was heard from cast and crew on the set of The Crown – and the 24-year- old won’t forget the moment any time soon.
“Trying on the dress for the first time was one of the most insane moments of my life,” she said.
“The Emmanuels [designers] gave us the original designs. It took about 15 people to get me into the dress, and then when the crew were ready, we opened the doors and I was standing there. Everyone went silent. And they remained silent the entire time we were shooting. It was this huge weight of respect,” she says. “Everyone in the room felt it.” The Crown’s long-awaited fourth season spans the 1970s to the ’ 90s, and also introduces Gillian Anderson as another late, larger-than-life character, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
While both roles were challenging for the respective actors, Corrin – taking on one of the world’s most famous and revered icons, ‘the people’s princess’ no less – found it an impossibly daunting prospect.
“It was strange representing someone who means so much to so many people,” Corrin says.
“I was about three years old when she died, which means that I don’t have any living memory of her being alive. And in terms of research, I watched the Netflix documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, and that helped me get a sense of the voice, of the way she tilted her head.” She giggles: “Actually, my neck was beginning to get really lopsided on one side. I think that [mannerism] was such a signature thing for her.”
What she does share with Diana is a passion for fashion.
“Oh my God, I loved the costumes,” she smiles.
“I really wanted to keep the one I wear to the funeral of [Major] Hugh Lindsay [in 1988]. It’s this incredible black velvet skirt suit.
“But more so, I was really fascinated by portraying younger Diana when she wasn’t really a ‘styler’ yet, which was funny.”
Watching Corrin’s Diana effect in person certainly cements the tale of her set debut.
It’s a chilly night outside London’s Lyceum Theatre, where Corrin and Josh O’Connor
(Prince Charles) are to attend a recreation of 1984’s Royal Variety Performance.
The cheering from the crowd of extras and onlookers is deafening, rising to a crescendo once they glimpse the royal couple entering the theatre.
And it’s no wonder – watching Corrin step out of the limousine, the likeness is unmistakable, almost eerie.
Yet it almost didn’t happen. “Talk about a fairytale!” Corrin says, nodding. “I went in to read opposite the actors auditioning for the role of Camilla [Parker Bowles]. They just needed someone to help out so it was a non-pressure situation and an opportunity to meet [ The Crown creator] Peter Morgan. I remember saying to a friend, ‘Even if I don’t get a part, it was probably the best hour of my life.’”
Morgan agrees: “It was a proper ‘star is born’ story,” he explains.
“I was only interested in looking at the actors auditioning for Camilla Parker Bowles and the cameras were on the Camillas. And I remember sitting in the room and looking over [at Emma] and going, ‘It’s Diana!’”
The actual Lady Diana
Spencer, then a part-time nursery school teacher, was wholly unprepared for her royal debut.
In a case of life imitating art, Corrin is still not sure she’s ready for fame: “I don’t know!” she laughs. “I guess I’ll find out.”
Eight months after the set visit, we check in again via Zoom, with Corrin sharing her backstory.
Beginning her career as a model, her first substantial role came in drama series Pennyworth last year.
The eldest of three children, she was born in Kent to a businessman father and South African mother, who is a leading speech and language specialist.
“My mum looked a lot like Diana when she was younger,” she reveals.
“Actually, the day Diana died, my mum got on the Tube
[in London] and people fainted because they thought that she was her. Even at school, there was a running joke that my mum was Diana. So when I got the part, I had a weird connection to her.”
Diana’s story is, of course, ultimately one of tragedy, which includes an eating disorder, an unhappy marriage, and of course, an untimely premature death.
She was also considered a rebel by royal standards, so what does Corrin think Diana would make of her son Prince Harry’s decision to put love and marriage ahead of The Firm?
“I think she would have been very proud of him. I think the royal family is a very interesting and antiquated institution. I think society has helped modernise the rules. You can’t not put love and marriage ahead of other people and I think Diana headed that change,” she says.
“I think she really would have understood and been sympathetic of what Harry experienced.”
Diana was famously an advocate for mental health and many humanitarian issues, with many citing her as singlehandedly changing attitudes towards AIDS patients.
“Diana was ahead of her time,” Corrin concurs, “in the fact that she was very vocal about mental health, and I think she would have really excelled in today’s society. She would have been an incredible spokesperson for women and all the movements taking place especially now when so much care and sensitivity is needed. That’s what people recognised in her.”
THE CROWN
SEASON FOUR STREAMING FROM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, NETFLIX