Kristen Stewart reveals details of her role as Princess Diana 1:31
(CNN) -
Princess Diana lived such a notorious and public life that it is no wonder writers and directors have used her for television and film since the world knew her name.
The princess's life was short but intense: she was a 19-year-old aristocrat when she got engaged to Carlos, a 20-year-old princess when she became one of the most famous women in the world, and a 36-year-old divorcee and mother of two children. when he died in a car accident in Paris.
And in the years before and after his death in 1997, filmmakers have used the most dramatic elements of their lives to tell stories, most recently Pablo Larraín's signature drama "Spencer," starring Kristen Stewart as the village princess.
Kristen Stewart reveals details of her role as Princess Diana 1:31
However, Diana's shy smiles and blazing eyes are easier to capture than her inner pain and silent rebellion.
Physical gestures alone don't make a great performance.
Many have played the late Princess of Wales in film and television, 12 according to People's accounts, with varying degrees of success.
Take a look at some of the most memorable Targets we've seen on screen.
Naomi Watts, "Diana" (2013)
Naomi Watts' Diana garnered apathetic reviews.
Watts certainly lived up to this otherwise boring adaptation of Diana's final years of life, but the extremely serious film was "trashed by British critics," CNN reported at the time of its release. . Although the film dramatizes some of the most iconic moments of the Princess of Wales, such as her walk through a minefield in Angola as part of a campaign against landmines, the film was criticized for its lack of drama and sentiment, among others. important qualities.
A Guardian critic, in a one-star review, openly wondered if the film was "a plot by MI5 to smear Diana's name and make her look plastic and absurd."
Although some congratulated her on her accent, most critics were "dissatisfied" with Watts' performance.
This is how Diana of Wales came to be known as the People's Princess
Emma Corrin, "The Crown" season 4 (2020)
Emma Corrin's Diana is young, naive, and increasingly isolated throughout the fourth season of "The Crown."
Corrin's Young Spencer, perhaps the most painful adaptation of Diana ever brought to the screen, was written as the most likeable figure in the series.
Throughout the season, viewers watched Diana go from being a vibrant and naive aristocrat to becoming a fierce mother and defensive wife (or ex-wife, as we will presumably see Diana divorce Carlos in the next season of "The Crown ").
His performance was so moving, and the reaction to royalty the series represented so negative, that the UK Culture Minister pleaded with Netflix to add a notice to let the public know that the series was a work of fiction.
Corrin won a Golden Globe for this performance.
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Jeanna de Waal, "Diana: The Musical" (2021)
Jeanna de Waal dons Diana's iconic wedding dress in "Diana: The Musical."
Although the musical he stars in - shot for the streamer with plans to premiere on Broadway later this month - was universally maligned when it premiered on Netflix, de Waal at least injects some warmth into the '80s-style ballads with letters that fall short. Contained even as she darts off the stage and rips her emerald gown to reveal a white lace Maddona petticoat, de Waal manages to do something with lyrics like "Harry my redheaded son / You'll always be the best." A RogerEbert.com reviewer called her performance "capable, if a little stiff," even in scenes where Diana is in private. It's a curious choice, especially for an art form as imaginative as musical theater.
Diana's temperament may be difficult to translate into song: The extraordinary drag queen Katya also played Diana in a musical number of "RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars," a performance that Rupaul deemed lacking.
However, unlike De Waal, Katya's drag Diana was allowed to “rock” a bit, even tossing her tiara.
Diana at 60: How would the Princess of Wales have dressed in 2021?
Kristen Stewart, "Spencer" (2021)
In "Spencer," Kristen Stewart achieves Diana's sheepish expression in public.
It was the "they don't" ("they don't know") that reverberated around the world. Stewart only uttered two words as Diana in the trailer for "Spencer," most of which centered on her quiet break up at the Royal Family's lavish and haunting Sandringham estate, but those who doubted the "Twilight" star "I could manage to imitate Diana's accent they were wrong. Director Pablo Larraín called Stewart a "force of nature" in the role of Diana, which provides the foundation for an often fantastic film that, according to CNN's Brian Lowry, is more of a fable that gives itself a certain freedom than a Reliable biopic (the ghost of Anne Boleyn makes an appearance at some point). Although his film will likely divide audiences looking for a frank tale about the village princess,Stewart is already ringing for the Oscar for his top-notch performance in "Spencer."
This is what Kristen Stewart looks like as Princess Diana in "Spencer"
The Diana of series and films for television
Serena Scott Thomas, sitting at the far right of the front row, played the Princess of Wales in "Diana: Her True Story," which aired while Diana was alive.
Several women have played Diana in television movies over the past 40 years, including Catherine Oxenberg of "Dynasty" (twice, 10 years apart) and "Star Wars" star Genevieve O'Reilly. Many of those films and miniseries were critical failures, but only one was adapted from Diana's collaborative biography: "Diana: Her True Story," a 1993 miniseries starring Serena Scott Thomas. His Diana was icy and distant, the film focused heavily on her marriage to Carlos, and she wore exclusively bowl-shaped wigs. The hair was not good, but the reviews were relatively good: in a positive review, Variety called the series "attractive and entertaining",though Entertainment Weekly questioned his negative portrayal of Carlos, a "selfish, pessimistic, and brooding bum"; after all, this was Diana's story.
Coming soon: Elizabeth Debicki, "The Crown" season 5 (2022)
The fifth season of "The Crown" will see Diana (now played by Elizabeth Debicki) split up and eventually divorce Carlos.
We haven't seen anything of Debicki's Diana beyond photos taken on set, but she bears a strong resemblance to the princess (although, at over six feet tall, Debicki is a few inches taller than the Princess of Welsh).
She will play Diana for the last two seasons of "The Crown," taking over from Corrin.
We will likely see Debicki don Diana's black tank dress and relive Di's revealing interview with Martin Bashir, who was investigated decades later by the BBC on allegations that he misled Diana using false documents to secure the interview.
(And hopefully Debicki will also sport baggy sweatshirts and bike shorts, a casual style that Diana popularized long before Kim Kardashian and the young TikTokkers tried it.)
Diana of Wales