Here's How Playing Diana Affected Elizabeth Debicki's Relationship with Her Family
The actress's dialect exercise turned into a household mockery line.
Summary
- The Crown wraps up after the current sixth season.
- Elizabeth Debicki underwent special dialect training to prepare for her role as Princess Diana.
- The linguistic exercises prompted the actress' family to poke fun at her.
It's only been a few days since the sixth and final season of The Crown premiered, and of course it's still the talk of the town among fans. Especially since, for the first time in the Netflix show's history, only a portion of the installment has been released, leaving viewers in a limbo of suspense and drama.
Since its debut in 2016, The Crown has been one of Netflix's flagship series, attracting countless fans around the world. While the show primarily focuses on the now-deceased Queen Elizabeth II and her reign, it also features other members of the fictionalized British royal family and explores their issues. Thus, Season 6 follows Princess Diana through her separation from Prince Charles, the media frenzy, and her subsequent tragic death.
It seems that such a complicated role requires a lot of dedication from the actress. As a result, it can't help but affect her life. And that is exactly what happened to Elizabeth Debicki, who portrayed Princess Diana in The Crown.
A Usual Drill
The Crown is famous for its attention to the nuances of royal life. Specifically, the show is praised for the dialectical accuracy of the actors who play the British royals. Australian-born Elizabeth Debicki also underwent special linguistic training to get her Diana accent right.
According to the actress, it is common practice on The Crown to learn to emulate the royals' accents from their real-life speeches, as they are often over-enunciated. She did the same when preparing to play Princess Diana. And so it was that in her training, Debicki used a speech that began with the words "In the past twelve years…". She uttered the phrase so often that it quickly became a household mocking line in her family.
The Debickis' Source of Humor
'So I learnt this speech while I was living with my sister in her apartment and her boyfriend, and her flatmate, and my boyfriend. And I walked about for around three months saying "In the past twelve years…" Then, what happened was, I'd be, like, brushing my teeth, walking the dog, doing the dishes [saying] "In the past twelve years…" And then, I would, like, come in, sometimes I'd walk past someone in the shower, like my sister's boyfriend, and the shower would be running and I would just hear someone going, "In the past twelve years…"' Elizabeth Debicki revealed in an interview.
Even though the actress has been on The Crown since Season 5, the phrase remains a way for her family to poke fun at her.
'I watched these episodes with my sister recently, and we finished the first episode. She, like, sat back and she turned to me and went, "In the past twelve years…"'
Part 2 of The Crown's sixth season will premiere on December 14.
Source: YouTube.