Ed McVey was "terrified" when he was cast in 'The Crown'.
Ed McVey as Prince William in The Crown
The 24-year-old actor portrays Prince William in the second half of the sixth and final series of Netflix's regal drama and he recalled the mixed emotions he felt when he received a call telling him he'd landed the role following a lengthy audition process.
He told the Telegraph magazine: "here were two weeks of silence, when I thought something had gone wrong... [When I got the call] It was relief I felt, more than anything. Then I got excited, and then…And then I felt terrified."
While 'The Crown' is Ed's first high-profile role, he is aware of the opportunities it could lead to, having seen how the show has transformed the careers of former stars such as Josh O'Connor, Emma Corrin and Vanessa Kirby.
He said: "Oh yeah, I’m not naive to the fact 'The Crown' has blown people like Josh and Emma up, but it’s testament to the show not to cast somebody known in [those roles].
"They could easily have cast someone who looked like William who’s already established, but they cast their net so wide. That’s not a given on something like this."
And Ed admitted he felt "pressure" to prove himself alongside established cast members such as Imelda Staunton and Dominic West.
He said: "It felt very much, well, 'Who are you then? Are you good? Are you going to be good, like the rest of them?'
"So you get that pressure, just being around those actors that you know and love.
"It’s not like at drama school, where your friend’s playing your grandma, and you’ll be in the pub with them later. It’s Imelda Staunton, who is a bit of a queen to me.
"So in a way it does the work for you, because you’re looking at her and, to you, it is the Queen. I didn’t really have to 'act', in a way."
The British actor is "not particularly" a fan of the royal family but found it easy to "connect" with his character.
He explained: "I didn’t really have a stance on William, so I was just able to connect with him as a person.
"What Peter [Morgan] wrote on the page was a human, and a character, so you do your character work on it as much as you would any."
Tagged in Peter Morgan Prince William