Art & Entertainment

Elizabeth Debicki On How Menacing Fame Can Be As She Plays Diana In 'The Crown'

Actress Elizabeth Debicki claims portraying Diana, Princess of Wales reminded her of how dangerous fame can be.

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Actress Elizabeth Debicki claims portraying Diana, Princess of Wales reminded her of how dangerous fame can be.

The 32-year-old actress - who plays the late royal in the latest series of Netflix drama 'The Crown' - says she's never been interested in being a celebrity but her latest role made her realise just how difficult fame can be for someone like Diana who was struggling with her personal life, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"As a concept, [fame is] not one that appeals to me. The main thing it does is take away one of the most valuable things people possess, which is a right to privacy," she told Vogue Australia.

"I've seen that on people I really love and care for. Fame does not discriminate between how vulnerable you feel that day, what's happening in your personal life, how tired you are, or how much you really don't want your photograph taken."

Debicki also opened up about her own insecurities, admitting she spent much of her 20s questioning whether she was "beautiful" enough to be an actress.

She added, "'In the beginning, I was always like, 'Why is this part of my job that I'm supposed to look beautiful and put dresses on and be good at it?' I was always like, 'I don't know how to do this. Am I enough?' "

However, now she's in her 30s, Elizabeth says she's been able to shrug off worries about her appearance.

She previously opened up about the "pressure" of playing Diana in 'The Crown' and said it was particularly difficult when she had to wear a version of the late royal's "revenge dress" - which she wore the night her estranged husband Charles, then Prince of Wales admitted he'd been unfaithful in a TV interview.

Debicki told Vogue UK, "The revenge dress was pressure ... It's a complex dress. I let the fittings happen around me while I thought about what the dress meant. Why this dress? She'd had it for two or three years. It was super risque at the time ..."

"She was claiming the space. The way she walked out of that car, the luminosity, the strength of her as that car door opened, she was so fast and so forward. It's an extraordinary thing to watch. To decide what you're saying about yourself through fashion... it was a currency. An incredibly powerful currency."