The thing that I was most excited about this season of The Crown was Diana, Princess of Wales. Emma Corrin is amazing. She is extraordinary!
How much she looks like Diana — or how much they made her look like Diana — is incredible, and it really captured her spirit. You know, everybody’s got their own take on Diana. Was she a saint and a victim, or was she a publicity-seeking nightmare? The truth is, she was a mix of both, and the show does such a great job of showing how much pain she is in and how hard she’s trying, but also how impossible and different the royal family is from anything she could ever fit into. You see how she drives the family absolutely crazy, but you see it’s really not her fault and she’s trying so hard. To be alternating between rolling your eyes at her and then weeping for her is an incredible thing that the show is able to achieve.
And ‘Uptown Girl’! It really happened and you can’t believe it. On the one hand, performing the song for Charles is a wonderful gift that he doesn’t appreciate. But you also think, ‘My God — you give this to your husband for his birthday? A performance of a wildly inappropriate, kind of trashy American pop song that he would hate?’ ” — AS TOLD TO TYLER COATES
This story first appeared in a June standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
