Dominic West Says He Stopped Son Senan from Acting inThe CrownSeason 6 Because of Key Scene

Dominic West and Senan West at The Crown season 5 premiere in London in November 2022.Photo:Jeff Spicer/Getty

Jeff Spicer/Getty

Dominic Westsays he stopped his sonSenan Westfrom continuing asPrince WilliaminThe Crownto avoid depicting the aftermath ofPrincess Diana’s death.

Dominic, 54, made the revelation in a new interview with theRadio Timesmagazine, explaining what went into the decision. The star ofThe WirejoinedThe Crownin the part ofPrince Charlesin season 5, and his teen son Senan (whom he shares with wifeCatherine FitzGerald) made histelevision debutas a young Prince William in the same season.Varietywas the first to report the casting news in November 2021, saying Senan’s audition tape “caught the attention of the show’s producers.”

Dominic West and Senan West at The Crown season 5 premiere in London in November 2022.Jeff Spicer/Getty

“I didn’t really fancy doing the scene at Balmoral, telling a boy his mother has died,” Dominic told the Radio Times,The Timesreported on Monday.

“They invited Senan back because he did such a good job, and he was great, but I did slightly balk at that,” he continued, making another revelation. “It was unfair of me because he did want to do it, but I wouldn’t have fancied that, to be honest."

Elizabeth Debicki, Will Powell, Senan West and Dominic West in character in season 5 of The Crown on Netflix.Keith Bernstein/Netflix

Keith Bernstein/Netflix

Told in four episodes, the first installment follows the relationship between Princess Diana (Debicki) andDodi Fayed(Khalid Abdalla) before their fatal car accident in Paris in August 1997. PEOPLEpreviously confirmedthat the moment of impact will be excluded fromThe Crown, and Netflixhas saidthat part 2 will pick up after the tragedy and show Prince William andPrince Harry(Luther Ford) growing up and navigating the next chapter, including William’s romance withKate Middleton(Meg Bellamy) at college.

Exclusively speaking to PEOPLE before the part 2 debut, Dominic says that the hardest parts to film for season 6 were the “big emotional scenes” and cites those around Diana’s death.

“I think the big emotional scenes. In many ways they’re wonderful for an actor. But Peter [Morgan] had written two scenes, one in the Scottish mountains and one in the hospital in Paris where Charles bawls, crying. He’s wailing,” Dominic tells PEOPLE of what the showrunner envisioned. “I read that and thought, ‘How does a famously buttoned-up family, famously unemotional family, what are they like in times of high emotion, when something deeply traumatic happens?’ I was very worried about it, then of course comes the day you’re doing it and you’re acting, looking at the body of Diana and what you’ve got is a cross on a map box, that’s what you’ve got to look at. They’re difficult, those scenes. And I suppose those are the ones I was most worried about.”

On what he most hoped to bring into the role of Charles, who acceded as King followingQueen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022, the BAFTA winner brought up emotion.

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Rufus Kampa, Dominic West and Fflyn Edwards in character in season 6 of The Crown on Netflix.Keith Bernstein/Netflix

“You haven’t seen him yet that emotional before. What I really wanted and hoped for was emotional truth, to give an emotional truth to these momentous and tragic events in the first part,” Dominic tells PEOPLE. “Peter had chosen to make him very emotional. He could have just as easily chosen to make him stone cold, but Peter chose him to be emotional, and I think Charles is emotional. So I just hoped that that was truthful, and I could give it emotional truth.”

“You’re very conscious these events mean a lot to a lot of people, especially the ones who are involved and who are still alive, so there’s a feeling of responsibility and a need to take it with respect and very seriously,” he says of the weight that came with the royal role.

Part 1 ofThe Crownseason 6 is now streaming on Netflix.

source: people.com