‘The Crown’ Star Elizabeth Debicki Reflects On The “Really Unpleasant Experience” Of Filming Scenes Where Princess Diana Was Swarmed By Paparazzi: “You Feel Very Trapped”

Elizabeth Debicki found that fake paparazzi are nearly as bad as the real deal while filming The Crown.

The actress, who is reprising her role of Princess Diana in the upcoming final season of the award-winning Netflix historical drama, spoke to the streamer about the “really unpleasant experience” of shooting the scenes leading up to the royal legend’s passing in an internal interview that took place in April, per Variety.

“At times it’s almost like an anomalistic response to being pursued, by that many actors playing the press, because there’s nowhere you can go and you only have to be in a situation like that for about a minute, before you realize this is completely unbearable,” she said in comments shared with the press by Netflix.

Debicki continued, “And no one should ever be having to experience what it feels like to try and get the scenes in the daytime in Paris, trying to get from one place to another, and to have this swarm around you. You feel very trapped. It’s a really unpleasant experience.”

According to Deadline, Debicki shared how she personally felt  “there was not a huge amount of acting taking place” while filming scenes with mass amounts of fake paparazzi, noting that it’s “really horrendous to have that many people yelling at you and wanting something.”

She also set out to highlight the “real joy, happiness, lightness and genuine fun on the screen” in juxtaposition with the horror of the impending car crash that ended the life of the “People’s Princess.”

“That was really the piece I felt that I could control, in a way, and that became a real focus,” she continued.

Interestingly enough, series creator Peter Morgan told Variety that he “dreaded writing Diana into the series, and even considered avoiding her entirely.”

“Oh, God, we were never going to show the crash,” he recalled in an interview last month. “Never.”

The Crown Season 6, Part 1 hits Netflix Nov. 16. The latter half will be released on Dec. 14. Watch the trailer for The Crown Season 6 Part 1 in the video above.