Prince Charles in The Crown is not remotely relatable. Actor Dominic West, however, is—because he reacts to critical reviews just as badly as we all do.
And boy, did season six of The Crown pick up some bad reviews. The once-prestigious drama certainly hadn’t saved its best for last. The performances were great as usual but everything else fell flat, and that’s without even getting into the controversial “Ghost Diana” scenes. In these, the spirit of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) appears to her ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law and we’re all treated to an imagining of what she might have said to them if she could. This aspect of the show did not go down well in the UK, where Diana is still a beloved figure even if the rest of the royal family aren’t.
At the time, West defended the scenes as “brave.” However, even a little controversy didn’t stop season six from being on the whole a pretty dull affair. It has a “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 54% (although the audience score is higher) and it’s generally considered that it wasn’t up to the standards set by the smash-hit first season. The Guardian went so far as to call it, “so bad it’s basically an out-of-body experience.” Ouch.
Was West miscast in ‘The Crown’?
It’s also generally considered that West was an odd casting choice for the part of Charles to begin with. It’s very flattering to the now-king (big surprise there) because West looks absolutely nothing like him. West himself has joked that he’s “had worse criticisms” than being told he’s too good-looking to play someone, telling Yahoo in December, “It’s a nice critique to get. Why do they look past [my good looks]? I don’t know. I think I’m much fatter and older than Charles is at the same age that I’m trying to depict him. So I didn’t really think of it like that.”
While West still nails Charles’s mannerisms and way of speaking, it’s hard to see past how he’s one of the few people in the cast who doesn’t look like the person they’re portraying—and hard to see past how he doesn’t look like Josh O’Connor, who played the young Charles, either. Sorry, Dominic!
West’s reaction to negative reviews
While appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today show, promoting his new theatre production of A View from the Bridge, West was asked if he worried about how the royal family would react to The Crown. After all, Prince Harry watches it. West answered with, “All reactions worry me. You know, I read all the reviews and I spent two days in bed. So yes, I’m a sensitive soul. I worry about what people think.” Awww.
But even though the final episodes of the show weren’t as well-received as West might have hoped, he had a good time on The Crown overall. He told the BBC, “You don’t turn down a Peter Morgan script very easily. He’s such a great writer and it’s such a great show and I love 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. I miss it.”
He also quipped, “It’s such a relief to now go back to theatre and not have to talk about the monarchy anymore.” And after weeks of Charles’s prostrate grabbing headlines in the UK, I know exactly how he feels.
(featured image: Netflix)
