Set photos from The Crown Season 5 show Elizabeth Debicki looking unrecognizable in her portrayal of Princess Diana. After the release of season 4 in 2020, The Crown season 5 is now undergoing photography with its all-new cast. Imelda Staunton, known for her portrayal of Professor Umbridge, will be taking over the role of Queen Elizabeth II from her predecessors Olivia Colman and Claire Foy. Other new cast members include Jonathan Pryce, Dominic West, Lesley Manville, and Elizabeth Debicki. Although the series’ primary focus is relationships and life of the British royal family, it also examines the broader social and political contexts of the periods through which it progresses and chronicles.
After starring in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Debicki is set to have a leading role in the final two seasons of The Crown as Princess Diana. Debicki takes over from Emma Corrin and will be portraying the Princess as she goes through some of the most challenging stages of her life, including the continued deterioration of her marriage to Prince Charles. Whether or not The Crown season 5 will cover Diana’s death is unclear, as the event (and its fallout) could be examined in season 6.
Now, in new set photos of The Crown from People, audiences can get a better look at Debicki’s turn as the British Princess. The images reveal the stunning likeness to Princess Diana that Debicki has managed to achieve with the help of her hair, makeup, and costume design teams. People familiar with Princess Diana’s public image will recognize much of the clothing on display, albeit with small and subtle differences.
The exact likeness between an actor and the subject they’re portraying is almost impossible to achieve. So far, The Crown has succeeded with actors who haven’t always looked exactly like their real-life counterparts. However, the photos of Debicki as Princess Diana are bound to shock fans of the series, who may find that Debicki’s portrayal of Princess Diana is the most physically accurate from the series to date. Despite her likeness, Debicki will have a more complicated job than the majority of the series’ cast, however, as she will have to work to conceal her Australian accent and turn it into the perfectly received pronunciation of the British royal family.
In playing Princess Diana in the later stages of her life, Debicki has chosen to take on a sensitive and challenging project. The Crown has previously tackled difficult points in the royal family’s history head-on. It looks like controversial moments in Princess Diana’s history, like her interview with Martin Bashir, won’t be ignored either. However, Debicki isn’t the only actor to take on a recent project focussing on the Princess, and Kristen Stewart also portrayed Princess Diana in the 2021 release Spencer. Audiences will extensively compare, no doubt, the performances of the two actors. However, as an ensemble series, Debikci will be sharing the spotlight with a large and talented cast and bringing her version of Princess Diana to life.
Source: People