Created by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland), The Crown debuted on Netflix in November 2016. The series is now on its sixth and final season, and the first part of season six is set to premiere on November 16th. Part two will be released less than month later on December 14th. According to Deadline, a season six premiere took place at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California. During this premiere, a screening of the first episode was held along with a panel.
As Deadline notes, Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Widows), who plays Princess Diana, and Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner, The Square), who plays Dodi Fayed, had the chance to talk about their characters and what it was like navigating Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed’s romance.
Debicki stated, “Khalid and I were very determined that what our job in this season was to do, as we all know where we’re heading and how devastating that is, was to play against that as actors and allow these moments that you see in Episode One and you will see in Two to be so full of joy and so full of life.”
She continued, “And that they are surprised by one another and that they truly have a good time together. And that was really, we felt, equally our task as the task that follows that.”
Additionally, Debicki spoke about what it was like to work with Abdalla. She explained, “We found in each other as actors – and we were lucky that that was being mirrored in our story – solace and a friend and somebody who suddenly appeared to help me through what at times felt impossible, heavy, devastating, terrifying.”
“One of the things that we also were so curious about going into this was who were these people to each other,” Debicki continued, “And yeah, I think we learned that the love came easily, with ease, because there were maybe wounds that the other person could understand quickly.”
Abdalla spoke about his own goals in portraying Fayed. He stated, “Dodi, is a person who died 26 years ago, has been on supermarket shelves and the magazines, in the background. People know his name and they know virtually nothing else about him. What did he sound like? What was his story?”
He continued, “There are people who still ask me if he’s alive, and that tells you a lot about the world we live in. And I was one of those people.”
As Deadline notes, through research, Abdalla was able to dig deeper into Fayed. He stated, “He was a gentle, shy person with a very intense and important relationship with his father. And one of the things that makes me proudest about playing him is that finally, after 26 years, we get to know him a little. We hopefully get to love him a little. And then finally, after 26 years, we can mourn him.”
Fans of The Crown can look forward to seeing how the series comes to an end this November and December.