The Crown’s Luther Ford reveals the surprising ‘physical’ key to playing Prince Harry

Virgin Radio

15 Dec 2023, 13:59

The Crown star Luther Ford, who plays Prince Harry in the Netflix drama, has shared the key to playing the famous royal. 

Luther stars alongside the likes of Imelda Staunton, who plays Queen Elizabeth II, and Dominic West, who plays Prince Charles, in the historical series.

Series six Part Two of The Crown has dropped on Netflix, and marks the end of the royal drama, which spanned several decades of the monarch’s life, from her marriage to Prince Phillip in 1947 all the way through to the 21st century. 

Series six Part One has focused on the events leading up to and after Princess Diana’s death, and will continue in Part Two with Tony Blair’s run as Prime Minister and Prince Williams’ relationship with Kate Middleton. 

Of course, these were also the formative years of a young Prince Harry, and while on the red carpet celebration of The Crown’s latest episodes, Luther told virginradio.co.uk about the process of getting into such a public role. 

We asked Luther about getting into character and if there were words or phrases that helped with the recognisable royal parlance, and it turns out it wasn’t so much language but movement that helped give him the Harry edge. 

“It was more of a smile,” he told us. “I think that was more like embodying cheekiness, which is kind of hard when you're on the set of The Crown. 

“I feel like that requires a lot of confidence, and that's not your first instinct when you're with such a prestigious group of actors. I think it would be more of that it was more physical for me.”

When it comes to the key to portraying a recognisable royal, there’s much more than just learning a turn of phrase or an accent, according to the star behind Queen Elizabeth II. 

While chatting to virginradio.co.uk, Imelda Staunton revealed the one key that helped her to unlock playing the late monarch. 

“I think what I found out with the research was how much her faith meant to her,” the actress revealed. “I hadn't really realised that. That was a great steadying thing for me that made her have an inner strength, and that really helped.”

The Crown series 1-6 is available to watch on Netflix now.