Current:Home > FinanceAs 'The Crown' ends, Imelda Staunton tells NPR that 'the experiment paid off' -CapitalTrack
As 'The Crown' ends, Imelda Staunton tells NPR that 'the experiment paid off'
View
Date:2025-04-17 16:19:04
This month, Netflix viewers say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II.
The streaming service's sweeping historical drama, The Crown, is ending its six-season run with a final batch of episodes. This comes a bit more than a year after the real-world death of Queen Elizabeth.
Great Britain's longest-reigning monarch has had her life phases portrayed by three different British actresses through the years, first Claire Foy, then Olivia Colman, and finally closing out with Imelda Staunton, who portrays the queen amid the global shock of Princess Diana's death.
Staunton and the crew were in the process of filming the show's last season in 2022 when the actual Queen Elizabeth died in September.
Staunton joined All Things Considered host Scott Detrow to discuss the complexity of portraying the late queen for the series, and the show's attempt to portray the royal family in all of its truth.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Interview highlights
Scott Detrow: How did Queen Elizabeth's death affect production?
Imelda Staunton: We couldn't let it affect the work because we were filming scenes from 1997. Obviously it was a very, very sad time and difficult, and we took time out. And then we started filming again. And we knew our responsibility was to keep doing the show that we had started to do.
Detrow: The first half of The Crown's final season focuses on Princess Diana and her death. It was a period when the queen came under intense criticism for her initial lack of a public response. There are glimpses of royal frustration and bewilderment at the very un-British outpouring of emotion that followed Diana's death. What do you make of that?
Staunton: Well, I think it was great that [series creator and writer] Peter Morgan didn't shy away from that and that he did show the monarch not responding as she probably should have to the death. And I think she had no idea that response was going to be so intense.
And it was wonderful to play a person who was torn — I don't think she'd ever been put in that position ever before. So I think she wrestled with it greatly. And I think her sense of duty at that time was to the immediate family. And it was puzzling, I think, to her, why it should be so public.
And yet she knew that her life was public and her response would be seen by the nation and the world. And maybe that was her shock response. Maybe that was her sense of loss, not really knowing what to do and everyone telling her what to do and her having to just sort of stop and think about why she wasn't responding how the public wanted her to respond. So I loved that it was difficult and awkward, and I like that Peter allowed us to show that.
Detrow: There's a scene in that final episode of the first half of the season — it's almost a thesis statement for the whole show — where Charles says to your character, you know, essentially, this family can't have it both ways. We can't be a private family when we feel like it and a public family when we want to be.
Staunton: Yes, that's a great line, isn't it? But that's what Peter does. He'll show the good, the bad and the ugly. He'll just show it all. And then you can make your decision. You can make your own minds up. And I love that he doesn't shy away from that or just paint the royal family as this extraordinary family for good and all, that there are complications. And I love that he makes them complicated.
Listen to All Things Considered each day here or on your local member station for more interviews like this.
Detrow: I do have to ask about this. It became controversial to have scenes where Diana's ghost interacts with Charles and Elizabeth. Where did you come down on those scenes?
Staunton: Diana, for the queen, was just in her head. That's how I felt it. It was just in her head. And, you know, you go along. There's a brilliant writer who's decided to do this particular way of telling this part of the story.
And in my scenes, I suggested, I don't think I would literally see her. I think I would hear her and feel her but not see her. And that felt quite good for our scenes.
Detrow: I think about a show that has carried across 60 or so years of history, three complete cast overhauls. You've shared this iconic role with two other actresses. What, to you, is the long-term legacy of The Crown?
Staunton: We were in a piece of television that was a huge experiment. I think the experiment paid off. And to be part of something that has used so many actors, so many crew members, that we all wanted the standard to be as high as it possibly could at every minute of every single day was a great thing to be part of. And I feel so proud and grateful to have been there.
veryGood! (2312)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Virgin Galactic launches its first space tourist flight, stepping up commercial operations
- Why the sell-off in bond markets could impact you
- The Challenge Fans Will Love This Gift Guide as Much as T.J. Lavin Hates Quitters
- Average rate on 30
- Over $1 million raised for family of California 8-year-old struck, paralyzed by stray bullet
- 41 reportedly dead after migrant boat capsizes off Italian island
- Prosecutors seek Jan. 2 trial date for Donald Trump in his 2020 election conspiracy case
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Threat of scaffolding collapse shuts down part of downtown Orlando, Florida
Ranking
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- Foundations seek to advance AI for good — and also protect the world from its threats
- Map, satellite images show where Hawaii fires burned throughout Lahaina, Maui
- Connecticut school district lost more than $6 million in cyber attack, so far gotten about half back
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- How to help or donate in response to the deadly wildfire in Maui
- What is hip-hop? An attempt to define the cultural phenomenon as it celebrates 50 years
- Mark Williams: The Trading Titan Who Conquered Finance
Recommendation
FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
Once a target of pro-Trump anger, the U.S. archivist is prepping her agency for a digital flood
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried returns to New York as prosecutors push for his incarceration
Shop Aerie's 40% Off Leggings and Sports Bras Sale for All Your Activewear & Athleisure Needs
The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
Atlanta area doctor, hospital sued after baby allegedly decapitated during birth
James Williams: From Academics to Crypto Visionary
Kyle Richards and Morgan Wade Strip Down in Steamy New Music Video