“Spencer”, available on Amazon Prime Video, offers a new look at Princess Diana. Worn by Kristen Stewart, the film contains a few secrets. Here are five things to know.
Presented at the Venice Film Festival for the first time last September, Spencer is continuing her fine career. The film travels from festival to festival and continues to receive praise from around the world. This great success is based in particular on the interpretation of Kristen Stewart, bluffing in Lady Diana.
This unusual biopic is finally available in France on the Amazon Prime Video platform. To continue your viewing, discover five shooting secrets about the making of Pablo Larraín’s film.
Kristen Stewart signed on without reading the script
An actress since her childhood, the Hollywood star has distinguished herself in many genres in the cinema. She knows the big productions as well as the sets of more confidential films. When the project of spencer arrived, Kristen Stewart didn’t even read the script that she had already expressed her interest to the director.
While at the Toronto International Film Festival, she explains: “He called me. I didn’t even read the script and he explained to me that he wanted to do this weird-toned poem about Diana. He asked me if I was interested in this subject and without even thinking about it, irresponsibly, I answered: ‘Yes, absolutely.’”
Gold wigs
The costumes and hairstyles of the central character contribute to the beauty of spencer. In reality, Kristen Stewart had to wear two wigs created by Wakana Yoshihara, who had previously worked on Cinderella by Kenneth Branagh. In total, these wigs cost $12,000 and took six weeks to complete.
The Japanese artist, who specialized in make-up and hairstyles, specifies in an interview with IndieWire that Kristen Stewart did not want to wear wigs until filming began. Wakana Yoshihara finally managed to convince her.
A coach specializing in Diana
Of American nationality, Kristen Stewart worked a lot on his British accent. For her preparation, she surrounded herself with William Conacher, who is none other than the coach who helped Emma Corrin and Naomi Watts to shape their accent for their interpretations of Diana. The first for the series The Crown and the second for the biopic film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.
In the columns of Guardian, the actress says that, beyond the accent, the most important thing was her body language: “She has a particular way of speaking. (…) It was a full-body exercise – in a muscular, unintuitive and at the same time extremely instinctive way.”
The reaction of one of Diana’s bodyguards
For the moment, no member of the royal family has commented on the veracity of the film by Pablo Larraín. Nevertheless, Ken Wharfe, a member of Lady Diana’s close guard between 1988 and 1993, shared his opinion on spencer. He was still working with the princess in 1991 when the events of the feature film take place.
“She preferred to spend time in the kitchens with the chef and staff, hoping time would pass faster so she could get back to London”, he reports to the magazine People. A habit that is particularly shown in the film. In the rest of his interview, he also specifies that the interpretation of Kristen Stewart is the one that comes closest to the real Diana.
Filming on the wire
With a budget of $18 million, spencer remains an independent film that was not easy to set up for its director. During his interview with HelloCine, Pablo Larraín explains how much the filming, threatened by new confinements, was a source of anxiety:
“This film is a fragile and dangerous object. Every day on set was a victory because at any time the project could fall through. It is a very pleasant feeling to escape disaster. Every time you step onto a set, it feels like the first day of your life. There is nothing guaranteed.”
