Actor Showcase: Emma Corrin is So Much More Than Just Their Award-Winning Princess Diana Role

 

by Darian Scalamoni

    The Crown is a show that performs incredibly well for Netflix. Ever since the first season released back in November 2016, it's been a show that some could call star-making. Prior to the historical drama, Claire Foy, who was the first actress to portray Queen Elizabeth II in her formative years was practically an unknown when she was cast as the most iconic British figure in history. The Crown was able to make another star in newcomer, Emma Corrin, who is our selection for this week's Actor Showcase!

    Emma Corrin is a non-binary actor who was born in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, a county in Southeast England who went to an all-girl boarding school at a young age where they began to take an interest in dance and acting. Corrin later went on to study Drama in college at the University of Bristol, but later left to then pursue studies in Education, English, Drama and the Arts at St. John's College, Cambridge. Their story though of getting the role of Princess Diana in the third season of the Netflix series is one that had come seemingly out of nowhere, similar to Foy. Corrin had a very irregular way of being cast as the British Royal in the series. According to an article by Harper's Bazaar, Corrin was hired by the casting director to help with chemistry reads as Diana for the role of Camilla, the wife of King Charles III. That role eventually went to director/actor Emerald Fennell, but Corrin impressed so much that she was eventually cast as beloved Princess of Wales. In talking with their agent, Corrin deducted that it would be a low-pressure situation, but they should treat it like an audition. "We decided that I would just prepare as if it was an audition. And so, I did, and I worked on the voice with my mum, who is a speech therapist. And then I learned the lines. And I just had fun, because I wasn’t really doing anything at the time." 

    Corrin became an overnight sensation, garnering acclaim for their job in The Crown but that was only the beginning. They received an Emmy nomination and a SAG nomination, as well as a Golden Globe Award for their performance and then, the offers for other projects started flying in. Corrin will stay in business with the streaming giant, Netflix, as they are set to have a leading role within a feature film in Lady Chatterly's Lover. They will star alongside Jack O'Connell, whereas Corrin will play the titular role. The film, based on the novel of the same name, follows a young married woman who is amidst a love triangle with her upper-class Baronet husband, Clifford, who has become paralyzed from The Great War, and a gamekeeper named Oliver Mellos. Lady Chatterly's Lover is due to release on Netflix on December 2nd, 2022.

    

    Before that though, in just a few days, Amazon will have its showcase for Corrin, as the female lead role in My Policeman alongside pop superstar Harry Styles. Corrin will play Styles' wife, Marion Taylor, who discovers that her husband has been involved in an affair with a gay man. The movie has mixed reception thus far though much of the criticism has been pointed at the direction and script of the film. Corrin, Dawson and Styles all received Tribute Awards for their performances at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

    The most intriguing upcoming role for Corrin though, is the starring role in the FX limited series, Retreat. They star as Darby Hart, a gen Z amateur private detective who is set to solve a crime on a remote island after being invited by a reclusive billionaire. One of the other guests is found dead and Darby must fight to prove that it was a murder after all the competing interests and before the potential murderer can kill again. The series has been described by creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij as a "radical conceptualization of a detective story," so it's tonally completely different from the role Corrin was made famous from in Princess Diana.

    Emma Corrin has become a true symbol for LGBTQ+ advocacy within Hollywood since coming out as Queer a few months ago and is breaking gender norms with their stardom and the roles they are choosing. Corrin is one of the most unique young talents in the industry at this time. At only 26 years old, we should be seeing Corrin gracing the small and big screen for many years to come.