When it comes to must-see TV shows, there aren’t many up there that can stack up to the intense nature of The Crown. It’s been a sensation since its debut, and it continues to be a wildly popular show on the small screen.
Season 5 is the latest from the show, and fans were excited to see some major changes. The cast of season 5 should no doubt look familiar, and Dominic West was the man selected to play King Charles.
West was given a message prior to taking on the role, and we have the details below!
‘The Crown’ Is One Of TV’s Most Gripping Shows
Since 2016, The Crown has been one of the most compelling shows on TV. Its focus on the royal family through the years has kept viewers engaged since its debut, and 5 seasons in, people still can’t get enough of it.
One of the unique things about the show is that it shuffles its performers to better reflect the age of its primary characters. We’ve seen swaps like this done before, but The Crown has done an exceptional job in this area, and this had helped the show succeed for so long. No, not all casting decisions go as planned, but the show has hit it out of the park more often than not through the years.
For season 5 of The Crown, a major change was made for the role of a younger King Charles, as actor Dominic West took on the role.
Dominic West Plays Prince Charles On The Show
Season 5 has generated plenty of chatter so far, and many people have had a lot to say about Dominic West’s performance as a young King Charles.
Fans have noted that the handsome West might be too handsome to play the royal, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the season’s story, which is not light in any way.
“For Charles, Diana, Camilla and the rest of the royal family, West agreed that the season depicts ‘probably the most tumultuous time of their lives, a time more people remember than ever before.’ In the early 1990s, the royal family endured scandal after scandal, especially with the public meltdown of Charles and Diana’s long-unhappy marriage. Details about each spouse’s infidelity and the future king’s desire to live as “a tampon” in Camilla’s vagina, were blasted across tabloid headlines,” Mercury News writes about the season’s storyline.
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Before taking on the role, West was given a message from King Charles’ secretary, and it carried a message that he feels was echoed by the King himself.
What Prince Charles Told Him Before He Started
According to Dominic West, the message from the King’s secretary said, “You do what you like, you’re an actor. It’s nothing to do with us.”
West believes that King Charles himself felt the same way, and this had to be freeing for the actor. There had to have been a lot of pressure with taking on the role, and knowing that everyone was okay with it
Time will tell just how King Charles takes West’s performance, but it would not be surprising if he voiced his concerns about it. This is what happened some time ago with Prince Philip, who wanted to sue the show over his portrayal.
“I know Prince Philip consulted his lawyer about it, to ask ‘What can I do about it?’ He was very upset about the way that was portrayed. He was human. He could be hurt like anybody else,” said royal historian, per the New York Post.
The site then went on to touch on the storyline that upset Prince Philip so much.
“The plot point in contention was featured in the penultimate episode of the show’s second season, which aired in 2017 without a fictional disclaimer attached to it. In the storyline, a then 16-year-old Philip gets into trouble at his boarding school and cannot spend his break in Germany with Cecilie, the third of Philip’s four older sisters, who is pregnant with her fourth child,” the site wrote.
Dominic West might be getting some blowback for his current performance on The Crown, but it is nice to know that he was given some words of encouragement from the man that he’s playing.
