Breaking Baz: ‘The Crown’ director who filmed Diana and Dodi’s final moments in Season 6 says ‘extraordinary’ sensitivity played a role in handling turbulent scenes

EXCLUSIVE: The director of the Netflix drama The crownThe episodes re-enacting Princess Diana’s death 26 years ago in Paris showed how much effort was put into ensuring that the case was handled with sensitivity.

Christian Schwochow, who directed the three pivotal episodes of season six that are likely to be one of the most talked about moments on television this year, exclusively told Deadline that while there is footage of Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki, in the morgue in Paris , they should never be included in the final edit.

The filmmaker directed the second episode of the final season of Peter Morgan’s British royal drama, titled “Two Pictures.” Episode 3 (“Dis-Moi-Oui”), which shows the accident; and Episode 4 titled “Aftermath.”

Schwochow also confirmed reports from last October that the crash of the Mercedes-Benz driven by Henri Paul with Diana, Dodi Fayed and security adviser Trevor Rees-Jones will not be shown.

“We filmed Diana, but very respectfully — not in a big close-up,” Schwochow said. This will allow Dominic West to perform his scenes as her ex-husband Prince Charles in the hospital, he added.

“We were very clear that we did not want to see her body. I actually don’t think it was a discussion. Even in the first version of the clip, we would never see her body,” Schwochow said emphatically.

Season 6 of The crown Also starring Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, Marcia Warren as Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Bertie Carvel as Prime Minister Tony Blair and a graceful role by Jamie Parker as Robin Janvrin, then Deputy Private Secretary to the Queen.

Schwochow revealed that the sensitive scenes he shot were filmed not long after Queen Elizabeth’s death last September, “and we all felt people’s conscious memory.”

He told us that the season “had so many moments of heartache and sadness.” I don’t know how many times I’ve cried in front of my monitors because it’s so incredibly intense to recreate those moments. Not just to recreate them, but to create our truth, hopefully as true as fiction can get.

Whatever the intention, next season will be hot; There has already been criticism from those who have only seen the trailer. The crownThe final season was split into two parts; The first four episodes, documenting Diana’s final days, will be released on November 16, with the rest launching on December 14.

Breaking Baz has seen all four episodes of Part 1. They are, as expected, deeply disturbing, but handled with real sensitivity. When the Queen, Philip and Charles are informed by Janvrin, for example, that Diana did not survive the accident, the conversation remains silent – we do not hear what words are spoken. The same device is used when Charles tells William and Harry, played by Rufus Kampa and Fflyn Edwards respectively.

“We don’t need to see and hear it three or four times,” Schwochow said. “We try to give all the characters their private space with their sadness and grief to not overuse those emotions.”

The production had access to much of the CCTV footage gathered on the night of the tragedy at the Ritz hotel in Paris, where Diana and Dodi had dined that evening. “We can make our own observations about the physicality between Dodi and Diana,” Schwochow explained. “We couldn’t hear anything, but we could see how they were touching, how they were laughing.” And even though we knew she was crying in the restaurant, we could really observe and see how comfortable they were and how comfortable they felt.”

Schwochow cited scenes with West and Staunton in which Debicki, as Diana, has a conversation with them after her death. “Let’s not call Diana a ghost. That’s the kind of conversation Charles probably wants to have at this moment, and the same goes for the Queen,” he said. Salim Daws Mohamed Al-Fayed has a similar meeting with Khalid Abdullas Dodi.

West’s “raw emotions” were real when he filmed that final “performance” with Diana. “Elizabeth [Debicki] “Was there to see Dominic perform in the hospital, so she knows exactly how raw he was,” Schwochow added. Similarly, the scenes he filmed in which Queen Elizabeth of Staunton showed emotion were “incredible” to film.

“I always encourage actors to delve deeper into emotions. Even though the Queen and royals usually do not show emotions, there is a different character when they are not seen in public. I would always encourage Imelda to show something to the camera that the audience might not have seen. Not to make her cry, not to be melodramatic, but to give her moments as a very human woman. Our queen must have had moments when she felt very vulnerable and needed a moment before regaining her strength and moving on to the next step.

William and Harry also have their touching moments and the two young actors who play them are fantastic. A long shot of Harry (Edwards) walking behind his mother’s coffin is particularly poignant.

“I asked him to take everything in but not show his emotions, and that’s usually something that makes the actor think a lot and make him active during the scene,” Schwochow said. “Fflyn is very attached to his feelings, so you actively capture him as he tries not to show his sadness and grief.”

It creates an unforgettable moment The crown.

When asked if that long shot gave him the idea that there should be a drama series about Harry, Schwochow laughed and replied that his “royal duty” was over. “I don’t think we need it,” he added.

Schwochow previously directed episodes of the third and fifth seasons of this latest series. “There are so many reasons why I had to come back,” he said. “I felt I wanted to be part of the final chapter.”