‘THEY BOTH NEED A MUM’
EMMA CORRIN AND JOSH O’CONNOR EXPLAIN THE CHALLENGES AND EMOTIONAL TOLL IT TOOK TO PLAY DIANA AND CHARLES TO
This is your first major role – and it’s a biggie. Ready for superstardom? ‘There are parallels between Diana being plucked from obscurity and my situation. [Director] Ben Caron said that any time I’m photographed or interviewed or feel nervous or feel exposed, just use it. It’s exactly what she would have been feeling. That was massively helpful. I’ve really battled with Diana: The Icon. I was looking for the humanity because she was very emotionally intelligent: what she listened to, who she was in her group of friends, the fact she loved to dance.
‘I really can’t dance, I have a lot of limbs and they don’t do the right thing so I had months of training. It’s hard to learn ballet when you’re 24! It’s such an insight into how she used dance to
physically process things she’s feeling in a way she couldn’t otherwise. When Diana moved into the palace, she must have felt like she lost a lot of her identity so she held on to these hobbies because they felt like hers.’
What Diana do we meet in this series?
‘We meet her at 16, fresh-faced, and when she first meets Charles it feels quite special. Our Diana is good at knowing she has to play the game but the series covers the reality of living in a world Charles is so used to. Her relationship with the Queen is interesting. When the marriage starts to go sour, she doesn’t feel particularly understood by her. You’d think it would be difficult finding that relationship on screen because Olivia Colman is just a little ray of sunshine – but when she switches it on, she’s absolutely terrifying!’
Tell us about the outfits and that wedding dress…
‘The outfits are phenomenal. Diana’s fashion sense is dire at first but she slowly discovers her identity in what she wears. The most iconic thing is the wedding dress. The Emanuels, who designed it, came in with the designs and I went in for a fitting, which was so weird. I remember thinking, should my mum be here? It took about ten people to get me into it on the day. We filmed the scene in this long hall, split by two doors. I was getting ready on one side and the crew were setting up on the other, then the doors opened. Everyone just fell silent and the atmosphere changed. There was a weight of acknowledging the responsibility of what we were recreating.’