According to Deadline, Dominic West (The Affair, The Wire) revealed The Crown caused him anxiety about the public reaction to the series. West said he fell ill following the reviews of the series.
According to Deadline, West, who portrayed Prince Charles for the Netflix series, said he is happy that he doesn’t have to be apart of the world of the royal family and is relieved to no longer be associated with them.
West told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that he didn’t want to take the role due to the drama that surrounds the family and their association with the show, but said “you don’t turn down a Peter Morgan script very easily.”
According to Deadline, season six of The Crown got bad reviews in England, specifically with British critics taking exception to Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s ghost.
When questioned about if he was concerned about how the people they were portraying were going to perceive the series negatively, West stated, “I don’t want to make their lives any more difficult than they already are, so I suppose it does concern you. All reactions worry me. I read all the reviews and spent two days in bed. So yes, I’m a sensitive soul, I worry about what people think.”
West talked about the benefits of acting as a member of the royal family and being a part of the anthology series.
“I loved being on it. I loved wearing the clothes. I loved driving the cars and I loved having people bow to me. It’s an absolutely wonderful feeling,” he said.
West who is currently starring in the UK theatre production of Arthur Miller’s (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible) A View from the Bridge, added: “It’s such a relief now to go back to theatre and not have to talk about the monarchy anymore.”