Season six of The Crown continued its tradition of swapping out actors to portray members of the royal family. Yet in the sixth and final season, it’s the youngest generation of royals whose stories are being told by new faces, rather than the most central figure of the Netflix drama, Queen Elizabeth II — who has notably been played by Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and presently, Imelda Staunton.
With part two of the series now streaming, viewers see a slight jump ahead in time from actors Rufus Kampa and Fflyn Edwards — who portrayed Prince William and Prince Harry, respectively, in part one — being replaced by Ed McVey and Luther Ford, who play older teenaged versions of the boys.
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“It’s not a big jump in terms of time, but it feels like a big jump emotionally,” Suzanne Mackie explained to The Hollywood Reporter in a prior interview.
Episode five, “Willsmania,” finds William struggling with the loss of his mother, Princess Diana (played by Elizabeth Debicki), and the adoration that’s come with being thrust into the spotlight as he directs his misplaced anger and grief toward his father, Prince Charles (Dominic West).
“I have a complete soft spot for episode five. I think it’s exquisite and I know [creator] Peter Morgan feels the same way. It’s very profound and it’s very moving. It’s beautifully performed by Ed McVey, and Dominic West is breathtakingly good. I really can’t wait for people to see the episode. It can make me weep even thinking about it,” added Mackie.
Part two also introduced Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton, with the series laying out the beginnings of the relationship between the future princess and William, who met while studying at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
“Learning about Kate not coming from royal roots and things like that, I realized we had quite similar upbringings,” Bellamy tells THR in the conversation below. “Watching her kind of be launched into this public frenzy is really fascinating and a privilege to play someone that you have to look into in that way. I found it really interesting.”
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Talk about each of your casting processes and your feelings coming into this huge, final season of The Crown.
LUTHER FORD I answered an open casting call that was online. My brother’s girlfriend sent it to me and I didn’t expect to get it. I didn’t think I would, but I thought, “You know, hey, why not?” And then it just escalated very quickly, and I started getting callbacks and then I think it was about three weeks later that I got the part. And it was terrifying.
MEG BELLAMY My casting process was a little longer. They weren’t that sure about me (laughs). It started off in April of 2022, again, an open casting call I saw on Twitter, and I sent something off. And then just after I sent it, my neighbor messaged me like, “You should go for this.” And I was like, “Done.” And then it was kind of a jumble in terms of the order that you would expect, because halfway through, we had a readthrough where we weren’t cast yet, but I was asked to read for Kate. I think I was in the final eight, and same with Ed for William, and that was so exciting because you’re meeting all the crew and all the cast and I think we were both in agreement that even if we don’t get it, this has just been the best experience ever. And it was such an honor to read the episodes and to meet all the creatives, because we all love the show. So that was really exciting. And then it was a couple more chemistry reads and auditions after that before it was finalized.
ED MCVEY My experience is pretty much identical to Meg’s. It was quite a slow process, but then the last sort of month was quite quick. And then next thing you know, you’ve landed this thing, and then you have to come to terms with that. It was a lovely process. And the casting team has just been so lovely and were really supportive to all three of us.
Episode five explores William’s relationship with his father and, to a degree, his grandfather, following the death of Princess Diana. Ed, what was your experience like working with Dominic West and Jonathan Pryce on the series?
MCVEY They’re such powerhouse actors and actors that I still look up to, even having worked with them. They were both so generous and it was an honor to watch them work. They have such incredible careers and how they are on set is just so amazing. They have all of this experience and they’re just bringing it, and they’re really kind people and really easy to work with. There’s no egos or any of that nonsense. And they really looked at me as a fellow actor and we just played together and it was really fun.
When I start as William, he’s a lot younger and is going through some pretty horrible times. And for them to give me the license to almost not give them anything, I really wanted to do that. I really wanted to make them work. And the fact that they allowed me to do that was really, really lovely and they enjoyed it. I had some beautiful scenes and some beautiful days with those guys. I’m very, very privileged to have worked with them.
Having been very young when many of the moments you’re portraying happened in real time, how did stepping into these roles inform your view of the royal family?
BELLAMY I was always aware of the royals growing up. I didn’t have any kind of strong feelings about them, but you know, key events. I remember the Royal Wedding with William and Kate and things like that, and you know all about Diana, because you just do. It’s ingrained in British culture. So it was lovely to kind of research more in depth. Of course we researched our own characters, specifically, and learning about Kate not coming from royal roots and things like that, I realized we had quite similar upbringings. Watching her kind of be launched into this public frenzy is really fascinating and a privilege to play someone that you have to look into in that way. I found it really interesting.
FORD Also, I think it’s quite helpful to have some distance and to not have lived through it.
MCVEY One hundred percent.
FORD Because it’s easier to treat the script as script, and them as characters.
The strike ended just in time for you to promote this series. What has the press run been like for you?
MCVEY What SAG managed to achieve and AMPTP managed to achieve right at the last minute is incredible and I think everyone is very excited to carry on and get back to doing what we love. Promotion has been lovely. It’s all of our first experience with it, and just to do it together and to have each other here to go through it together is really special.
Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Princess Diana, has said that this series means different things to different people, depending on whether they’re American or British or Australian, as she is. What does this series mean to each of you?
BELLAMY I think it’s a lovely way of putting it. People have lived through different things. You see the historical events and remember them and how you felt. It’s hard to be objective in terms of the events, because I’m in it. But from an acting standpoint, it means an immense amount because I loved the show before, and it’s so lovely to play a character, a real person, that I really am fond of. And to know that the script has really, I hope, done her justice.
MCVEY Also, just to be able to work with these people. I’ve learned so much from this show, being my first sort of proper job, and being able to hone your craft in a smaller way each time you come onto set and work with such incredible people means so much.
The Crown is now streaming Part 2 of season six on Netflix.
