The Crown Hair and Makeup Details
How "The Crown" Re-Created Princess Diana's Look
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Whenever real people are portrayed in a film or TV show, hair and makeup teams have the tricky job of replicating enough of the person's look without coming across as costumey. It was the same case for Ana de Armas's Marilyn Monroe in "Blonde," Austin Butler's Elvis in "Elvis," and Lily James and Sebastian Stan's Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in "Pam & Tommy." Though the actors are decked out in wigs and bald caps, the viewer isn't supposed to see that.
"What we're trying to do all the time is find this very human realness in the image, and we are trying to include enough of the actor so that what we're not doing is a parody," Hall says. "Elizabeth Debicki is not Princess Diana."
That said, when the hair and makeup team get it right (which they did in "The Crown"), you do occasionally get to escape completely into the picture — even if only momentarily. "In some moments, you do have this kind of heartstopping moment where you see this glimpse where actually I don't think you'd be able to tell the difference between the two."
In addition to the hair, the makeup and even the tan skin that Princess Diana had were key details they included to transform Debicki into the "Diana that we remember," Hall says.