How The Crown star Elizabeth Debicki went from gawky kid to glam star via TV’s steamiest ever sex scene
SHE filmed what has been described as TV’s steamiest ever sex scene with Tom Hiddleston in just one take and says snogging co-star Gemma Arterton was one of the most beautiful things she has ever done.
But do not be taken in by actress Elizabeth Debicki’s man-eating screen image.
Away from work she insists looks do not interest her when it comes to choosing her real-life partner.
Elizabeth, 32, who plays the late Princess Diana in the new series of Netflix royal drama The Crown, stands at a towering 6ft 2in.
But she says: “I’ve dated shorter men and it’s not been a problem.
“What I’m really looking for is a normal, honest, real person. I like intelligence. The most attractive thing is when you meet someone you can have an intelligent conversation with. That’s what life’s all about, really.”
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Well, her life currently looks pretty complete because she has found that man in boyfriend Kristian Rasmussen.
At the London premiere of The Crown’s fifth series this week she wore a strapless black frock channelling the “revenge dress” Diana wore in 1994 following Charles’s televised admission of adultery.
The new series, which launched on Wednesday, covers the Royal Family’s tumultuous 1990s, including the divorces of Diana from the then Prince Charles, Prince Andrew from Sarah Ferguson and Princess Anne from Olympic equestrian champ Captain Mark Phillips.
The Wire actor Dominic West, 53, plays Charles and Olivia Williams is Camilla, his future Queen Consort.
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Elizabeth’s role as Diana comes nearly six years after her famous sex scene with Tom, 41, on BBC drama The Night Manager.
And although their steamy Sunday-night romp up against a wall sent Twitter into meltdown, it was no sweat for Elizabeth.
The Aussie beauty says: “I must say, that scene was quite intense. We did it in one take and everyone on the set was like, ‘OK, I think we’ve got it now — let’s move on.’ ”
When she was later told Tom’s “peachy backside” had caused such hysteria, she “died laughing”.
She says: “I don’t remember it being like that. I didn’t realise how famous Tom’s bottom was.”
She grew close to him “because they spent four months playing lovers”, and describes him as “basically perfect”.
She adds: “He is just so darn handsome and such a courteous gentleman that it was almost impossible not to fall completely in love with him. He also works at a very swift pace and you have to keep up with him or you’d be left behind.
“He has a wicked sense of humour, so acerbic. You’d drag yourself into the make-up truck at 7am and he’d be wisecracking away. If you weren’t on top form he’d bring you to your knees with his cutting wit and you wouldn’t get up again all day.”
It is not just Tom who left a lasting impression on Elizabeth after a sex scene.
She loved filming passionate scenes with Bond girl Gemma, 36, for 2018 film Vita & Virginia — a lesbian drama, set in 1920s London, about the love affair of socialite Vita Sackville-West and novelist Virginia Woolf.
One scene sees Virginia, played by Elizabeth, and Quantum Of Solace star Gemma as Vita, lie together fully nude in bed after a night of lust.
Elizabeth says: “We were snogging and it was going on for ages. But we were having a lovely time. We were happy when we were making the film. We were happy that we were going to tell a story about women in a really empowering way. We had a really nice time making it.”
‘Peachy backside’
The Crown will be the most high-profile role of Elizabeth’s career and she admits there was a time when she would not have had the confidence to take it on.
She says: “When I was very young I felt awkward. A lot of tall people go through this.
“A tall friend once said, ‘I can either slouch for the rest of my life and have a horrible back or just stand up tall’. I went through that experience where I thought, ‘There’s nothing I can do about it, I might as well own it’.
“When I was about 14 I remember going to the Australian ballet school and I was taller than the teachers.
“We had our photos taken with them. I remember looking at the Polaroid and saying, ‘I don’t think this ballet career is going to work’.
“Now I love it, and it’s interesting when people bring it up and I’m asked, ‘What’s it like being tall in my industry?’ Well, I don’t know any other way. So I’ve always liked who I am. The first thing people tend to see is my height. You walk down the street and strangers point.”
Her big break came shortly after drama school.
She was spotted in an Australian film by director Baz Luhrmann and asked to audition for his 2013 period drama The Great Gatsby, set in America’s Jazz Age.
She played fictional socialite Jordan Baker, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role as a party-loving millionaire.
She later starred in Brit director Guy Ritchie’s 2015 action-comedy The Man from U.N.C.L.E but truly became a household name thanks to playing bombshell Jemima “Jed” Marshall in The Night Manager.
Describing how she overcame imposter syndrome to wow in the series, she says: “Each of those actors were like England’s national treasures, every single one.
“I remember sitting in the room thinking, ‘I’m this token Australian’. They are just magnificent actors and beautiful people. But I grew a lot making that show.”
Hugging and kissing
Her on-screen chemistry with Tom was so intense it even led to claims they were dating.
Now Elizabeth — who once admit-ted a “huge crush on actor Idris Elba” — does have a boyfriend.
She and Kristian were pictured in London hugging and kissing this week.
But she will not be sharing their relationship on social media — as she has never used it.
She says: “I don’t have social media. At first it wasn’t a choice, as I am technologically incompetent.
“Then it was too late, because everybody had it. I remember thinking,
‘I’m really not that interesting. What would I post?’
“Then it became a choice, because in this business you have to keep some things for yourself. Also, I am really daggy and boring. I find Instagram overwhelming. I just want people to know me for my work.
“People think I’m calm and confident but that’s not the truth. People see what they need and want to see, I’m fine with that.”
Meanwhile, her work is doing the talking. In 2019 she shot more film sex scenes, with Danish hunk Claes Bang, in art heist drama The Burnt Orange Heresy.
And her turn in The Crown has been hailed as topping even Emma Corrin’s lauded depiction of the young Diana in series four.
Critics have called it “stunning” and “show-stealing”.
But there is no chance it will go to Elizabeth’s head.
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She says: “I’m really hard on myself, I can be very self-deprecating. I’m really bad at taking compliments.”
Well, it seems she will have to get used to plaudits.
