The Crown star Elizabeth Debicki, Emmy snubs, multi-nominees, and more in EW's The Awardist

Elizabeth Debicki reflects on confronting Princess Diana's death, those 'Ghost Diana' reports, and her initial on-set anxieties

Interview by Gerrad Hall
Illustration by Rachel Idzerda

Elizabeth Debicki's memories of winning a Golden Globe earlier this year recently came flooding back to her.

"The only person I could see was Meryl Streep. She was right in front of me," she recalls on The Awardist podcast of her win for season 6 of The Crown. "It was Meryl and my table."

That Globes win was followed by another at the SAG Awards, where she won Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. The 2024 Emmys will officially close the door on that chapter of her life, when she had the daunting task of playing Princess Diana on seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown. Embodying the late Royal's warmth, humor, humanity, faults, and complexities, she made you hope that fateful episode in Paris depicting the final moments of Diana's life could somehow reverse and rewrite history.

In the final season, the series continued to highlight her nurturing relationship to her sons, Princes William and Harry, and we saw her humanitarian work in places like Bosnia, where she drew attention to the dangerous work being done to clear landmines. But it was her friendship-turned-romance with Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) that put her in the spotlight, for better or, as it turned out, worse — eventually leading to that late-night car chase by paparazzi that ended in a catastrophic crash.

Debicki joined The Awardist podcast to look back on her first memories of being in full costume — "I was almost too scared to walk out of my dressing room" — what it was really like to be in Diana's shoes, her reaction to reports of the series featuring "Ghost Diana," and more.

Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV.

THE AWARDIST: You were born in Paris, right? And I understand you lived there for the first several years of your life, until your family moved to Australia. But did you still live in Paris at the time of Princess Diana's death in 1997?

ELIZABETH DEBICKI: No, I was in Australia by then. We moved at the end of 1995. So yeah, so I was in Australia. I was 7.

Because of being born there, did you still feel a connection to Paris and on any subconscious level or a connection to Diana that you may not have otherwise?

I don't think so. It never really occurred to me that that was informing anything because Paris was very foreign to her. It wasn't a place that she frequented often. So I think when I was doing those pieces of the story, I was so in her that I wasn't really feeling my own connection to Paris, which I do feel very strongly — me, personally, Elizabeth — but that didn't really occur to me as much.

I think the more accurate thing to say would be that when we were actually shooting in Paris, we felt a real energy there, the crew and Khalid and I — Khalid Abdalla, who plays Dodi. And so if I felt anything, it was more that being in the real place always informs you as an actor, whether that's shooting a movie that's supposed to be in the desert and you're actually in the desert, or whatever it is — it'll inform the performance. So that definitely happened for us.

We didn't shoot a lot of it in Paris, to be honest with you. There's a scene that happens on a bridge, but a lot of it was London for Paris and some bits of Barcelona for Paris. And I think that was both a conscious decision in terms of not wanting to...the producers and the crew were incredibly careful about how they chose to shoot pieces of that story, and I think they didn't feel that they needed to be that close to it, that it would be potentially disrespectful. And then also, it's film, so I'm sure there's a thousand different tax reasons why you shoot something there and not there.

You have talked about how you auditioned for this series during the early seasons, and you didn't get that role that you went up for, but they obviously had something bigger in store for you. Do you remember when you got the call to come back around for season 5? And were you told right away what the role was or did you have to wait for a meeting to find out?

I can't really remember, but I'm pretty sure I knew what it was for. I don't think there was ever a sense by that point that I thought it was for a different part. I went to [series creator Peter Morgan]'s house in London and Robert Stone, the casting director, and Suzanne Mackie, our producer, was there. We sat around [Peter's] obviously very beautiful house and a great big coffee table that's always full of whatever he's writing — this huge coffee table full of books. And there was a lot of diary books around and Royal family books around. I was very nervous. I was super nervous. I don't know why. I guess I didn't know how tentative or tenuous it was, the idea of them giving me the part. So I guess I wanted to make the right impression. And I suppose in those instances as an actor, you can sort of feel — because you are not acting, you have to show up as yourself — there's a sense of, can I control any of this so that it's the most help for you to decide that I am the right person for this role? It's always easier to just audition for a part — then you're like, oh, well, I'll put a thing on and I'll do the lines and leave; then I know I've done my best. But when you have to just meet and talk about things, I always think, oh my God...I always subscribe to the idea that acting is not about you. So I always sit there and think, well, if I'm sitting here telling you how many cats I had growing up, or what I ate for lunch... I feel like I'm going to lose the job just from being myself. So I was very nervous. They were very nice to me and quite serious about it. I guess they had already made up their minds. And I walked out with a book that I'd sort of mistakenly taken not knowing...Peter had sort of said, oh yes, you can have that. And then I thought, ugh, I shouldn't have taken it. Anyway, it was awkward and he was very nice about it. That was the meeting.

Diana's life in many regards is exemplifies the saying, you couldn't write it if you tried. This is also one of those roles that I feel like actors crave to play one day. I'm curious if that was the case for you. Were you hoping one day for something like this? And if so, once you were then fully inside of it, how did it feel to be so deeply invested in that thing that you hoped to one day get to explore?

Yeah, absolutely this was the kind of thing I dreamed of being asked to do. All I ever want to do — when I was younger, desperately craved; although I wouldn't have been ready for a challenge like this part — I think it came to me at the right time... I'm constantly just on the verge of thinking, "Oh, is that how I'm supposed to do it?" I think that's why I love acting so much because I've never quite figured out what the hell I'm doing, so I'm always very interested in it and in what I can potentially learn. But yeah, so absolutely, the scope, and a lot of the challenge of a job when you play somebody based on a real-life person is you sit in this funny place of: to mirror or not mirror? To create or to recreate? To emulate or to make it your own? It's a really interesting line that you toe, and you need to have a really firm grasp on the technical side of that. I prepped for a long time, and then you have to trust yourself enough that you can also throw it away and try and create something. So it was a wildly wonderful and challenging job. The size and scale of it, even now I think back to how it felt: I so clearly remember the first camera test we did because I was almost too scared to walk out of my dressing room. I had the wig on and I had the costume, and it was just always this sense of like, oh my God, is anyone buying this? Is it working? It, at that point, felt a little bit like there was this alchemical magic trick going on, and I didn't have the reigns in my hand yet so it was really frightening, but extremely exciting. Every day when I'd get up at whatever — 4:30 in the morning — and I'd be in the car going to work, I was really excited and I was intrigued, and yes, I was exhausted, and I was also probably like, there's always a double-edged sword. You think, oh my God, I have no idea how to do the day or how to do the same. Then you get to the end of it and you feel this sense of satisfaction that you even got to try and do it.

The inside of it was at times this really intimate, personal conversation I was having with myself about getting slowly better at it or sometimes being really overwhelmed with doubts about whether or not it was working or I was doing a good enough job. And then at times it felt like this sort of endless stretch of material... It felt like I'd get past one bit and then the mountain just kept getting higher and higher, and [the Panorama documentary interview] was summiting the mountain. I was so nervous to do it, and it was about three-quarters of the way through the shoot, and so I didn't let myself off the hook ever, and I constantly was researching while I was making that season. But by season 6, I think I was much more relaxed, and I had a constant scene partner [in Khalid] to do the work with and to be alongside, and he held half of the weight of everything that we had to move through. So that was such a different experience having Khalid there. I never felt lonely or really overwhelmed.

Well, you mentioned earlier the Paris scenes, and I don't know if this actual moment was filmed in Paris or Spain or elsewhere, but once we get to, it's the end of episode 3, that car chase with the paparazzi. We see you and close-up in the car, but then we see the car entering the tunnel in a wide shot. I'm going to assume you didn't have to be there in the car for those wide shots, but was there any part of you that wanted to be there on that day, or understandably you were like, "Nope, I'm good"?

Yeah, no, no, no, I didn't want to. And that was shot extremely technically, and with this knowledge of, this is the absolute most we want to show, which is not very much...There was an attempt at sort of simplicity, I think, and knowing that the audience brings so much of their knowledge to those pieces on screen. [Being there] was not necessary for either of us.

I have to ask you about something that I just thought was so ridiculous when the reports came out that there was a "Ghost Diana." When you watch the episodes, it's so clear that the point of these scenes when Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth have these visions is that it's about their own unresolved peace with her and these conversations they wish they could have had. But when all of you heard this, was it good for a laugh? Was it eye rolls?

I didn't fully not expect it. I think "ghost" is the wrong word, but I slightly expected the media in the U.K. to pick up on it and play around with it a lot. But I actually think those scenes work really well. I think they're keeping in tone with the show itself. And as an actor playing the scene, I thought, oh, I understand what Peter's doing with this. I think it's a good way to have a scene in a drama play out about grief — like you said, unresolved peace. But I didn't completely not expect it. I think I thought, okay, yeah, here we go. But I think once enough people told me separately, like, "I really love that scene," that evened how I felt about it. It works with some people, it doesn't work for other people. That's fine.

I expect that you are going to play many more incredible roles across what I hope is a very long life, but I suspect that one day, many years from now, this is a performance that will be synonymous with Elizabeth Debicki. And I'm curious, that makes you feel...how? Fill in the blank.

I'm proud of that work. I feel peaceful about that. I feel like this job was a ginormous gift to me as a actor, and if I did it well, then that's all I wanted to do. So yeah, I would be thrilled if that was the case. It's the kind of job you want to come along, and then you do your best.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Listen to Debicki's full interview on The Awardist podcast, below.

Snubbed!

While the 2024 Emmy nominations announcement delivered some delightful surprises (Reservation Dogs! The Traitors! Jeff Probst!), there were also some inevitable snubs, some quite painful. By Kristen Baldwin

I'm a Virgo

Both a coming-of-age story and a scorching social satire about race, class, capitalism, and law enforcement in modern America, I'm a Virgo — from creator Boots Riley — was the most original comedy of 2023. It was also a technical marvel and frequently hilarious, thanks to star Jharrel Jerome's sweetly earnest performance as Cootie, a 13-foot-tall Black teenager navigating life and love in Oakland, Calif.

The Curse

On the one hand, I get it. The Curse, created by Benny Safdie and professional weirdo Nathan Fielder, was a very polarizing series. The drama — about HGTV hosts Whitney (Emma Stone) and Asher Siegel (Fielder) filming a pilot called Fliplanthropy in a working-class New Mexico town — featured excruciating moments of cringe and a finale that was out-of-this-world bonkers. But Stone's performance as Whitney — a delusional white savior masquerading as an ally — was undeniably phenomenal and seemed like a lock for a nomination.

The show itself also seemed like a strong contender for Outstanding Drama Series, but its slot on that ballot went to the (enjoyably) ludicrous melodrama known as The Morning Show. I don't begrudge the folks at the UBA Network their nominations — soap opera is its own kind of art — but it's still shocking that something as buzzy and unique as The Curse was completely shut out. The voters couldn't even reward the mind-blowing finale with a nod in the Outstanding Stunt Coordination category.

Devery Jacobs, Reservation Dogs

While my cup runneth over with joy about Reservation Dogs' nomination in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, the lack of a nomination for writer/director/star Devery Jacobs is very tough to swallow. (Congrats, however, to Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nominee D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai!) Not only did Jacobs give a wry, moving performance as Elora Danan, they also wrote one of the final season's best episodes, "Elora's Dad," guest starring Ethan Hawke in the titular role. (He, too, was snubbed!) Did we mention that Jacobs made their directing debut this season as well with an episode called "Wahoo!", about the spirit of Elora's late mother, Cookie (Janae Collins)? Well, they did. And yet, Devery Jacobs received not a single nomination. To that we say, "Wa-huh?"

Read more of Kristen's snub — and surprises.

2024 Emmy nominees on 'The Awardist' podcast

Maya Rudolph on her inspirations for that SNL 'Mother' opening monologue number — and her hopes for Loot season 3

Baby Reindeer stars Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning open up about the 'complicated' stalker series

Anatomy of a killer: How Ripley showrunner and Andrew Scott reinvented the infamous con artist

Maya Erskine stole a Tom Cruise trick for her Mr. & Mrs. Smith action scenes: 'We did run like hell'

The Gilded Age's Carrie Coon says Bertha wants to save Gladys from herself

Emmy winner predictions: Drama, Comedy, Limited Series

Outstanding Drama Series

The Crown, Netflix
Fallout, Prime Video
The Gilded Age, HBO
The Morning Show, Apple TV+
Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Prime Video
Shōgun, FX
Slow Horses, Apple TV+
3 Body Problem, Netflix

Who will/should win: Shōgun
The Crown has been nominated in this category every season, winning once in 2021. Had Shōgun not made a late-in-the-game switch from limited series to drama, The Crown's final season would be the frontrunner to take the win here. But Shōgun — an epic achievement and the recipient of 25 nominations, the most of any title this year — has the momentum, at least for now.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary, ABC
The Bear, FX
Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO
Hacks, Max
Only Murders in the Building, Hulu
Palm Royale, Apple TV+
Reservation Dogs, FX on Hulu
What We Do in the Shadows, FX

Who will win: The Bear
Season 2 of The Bear was magnificent, so I'm not mad about its inevitable win. But...

Who should win: Reservation Dogs
What a shame that this transcendent, unique, and astoundingly moving coming-of-age comedy from Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi will end its three-season run with just one nomination in this category.

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

Baby Reindeer, Netflix
Fargo, FX
Lessons in Chemistry, Apple TV+
Ripley, Netflix
True Detective: Night Country, HBO

Who will win: Baby Reindeer
The big winner with Shōgun's move to drama? Netflix's word-of-mouth phenomenon Baby Reindeer, which is the clear frontrunner (despite that $170 million defamation lawsuit).

Who should win: Ripley
While Baby Reindeer is a compelling, emotionally complex watch, overall, it's less creatively successful than Steven Zaillian's Ripley. The stunning exploration of Patricia Highsmith's infamous con artist is exquisite on all fronts, from Robert Elswit's glorious, black-and-white cinematography to Andrew Scott's chilling charm as Tom.

Going for (more than one!) gold

This year's crop of Emmy contenders features more than a dozen actors and creators who scored more than one nomination. In addition to the actors who also served as producers on their nominated projects (we see you, Jodie Foster, Brie Larson, Andrew Scott, and more), one person scored a whopping four nominations for three different shows. Read on to see who was doing the most this past year. By Gerrad Hall

Maya Rudolph

Maya Rudolph is already a five-time Emmy winner (two for Comedy Guest Actress on SNL; three for character voice-over performance on Big Mouth), and she could add a lot more hardware to her display case thanks to her whopping four nominations this year: Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Loot season 2; Guest Actress in a Comedy, and Original Music and Lyrics ("Mother's Day Monologue/I'm Your Mother") for Saturday Night Live; and Character Voice-Over Performance for Big Mouth season 7.

Jon Hamm

Mad Men alum Jon Hamm, who has 18 nominations to his credit and one win for the final season of that AMC series, has two chances this year: Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for The Morning Show season 3 and Lead Actor in a Limited/Anthology Series or Movie for Fargo.

Donald Glover

Following his two wins for Atlanta, Donald Glover could return to the Emmy stage: He's nominated for Lead Actor in a Drama Series as well as Writing ("First Date") for Mr. & Mrs. Smith. And once the TV Academy determines the final producer credits, he will likely end up with a third nom.

Quinta Brunson

She won the Writing award in 2022 and the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series trophy in 2023 — and Quinta Brunson scored nominations in both categories again for season 3 of Abbott Elementary. (Like Glover, she will likely end up with a third this year as executive producer of the nominated series.)

Kristen Wiig

With nine previous nominations to her credit, could 2024 finally be the year Kristen Wiig takes home a trophy? She has two chances: Lead Actress in a Comedy series for Palm Royale, and Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for guest hosting SNL in April 2024.

Richard Gadd

Richard Gadd told his own harrowing life story — about his stalker and his sexual abuse — in the limited series Baby Reindeer, for which he's nominated for Limited/Anthology Series, Writing, and Lead Actor.

Jonathan Pryce

Jonathan Pryce's last nomination was 14 years ago, for Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series or Movie (Masterpiece: Return to Cranford), and this year he's making up for lost time for his work on two series: Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for The Crown season 6 and Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Slow Horses season 3.

Emmys Flashback