Actors with strong Limerick links to feature in Series 5 of The Crown which drops on Netflix this week

THERE will be significant Limerick interest in series five of the acclaimed Netflix series, The Crown, when it's released by the streaming company this Wednesday.

Actor Dominic West, a familiar face in west Limerick, will play Prince Charles in the new series while his teenage son, Senan West, who has spent a significant part of his childhood in Glin has been cast as Prince William.

Ahead of the premiere, Dominic West, who owns Glin Castle with his wife - landscape designer Catherine FitzGerald - has been speaking of the difficulty of playing someone who is still alive.

“It was really daunting anyway because everyone knows what he looks like and how he sounds, how he moves and can tell that the gap between that reality and whatever I'm doing," he told Ciara Kelly on Newstalk Breakfast.

The 53-year-old actor says he was nervous to follow in the footsteps of the “hugely awarded” Josh O’Connor, who played Prince Charles in season four of The Crown.

“The whole thing was a nightmare, really, to take on. But it's such a glorious show and such a great part that I couldn't resist it. And I've had a ball, you know, overcoming my fears.”

Seeing as West “looks nothing” like (the now) King Charles III, Ciara Kelly asked the actor if he was cast against type.

“I think so, but I think Peter (Morgan) sort of does that. He's got, Jonny Lee Miller playing John Major, which is actually genius. I think that's a thing Peter does”, commented West. 

“I said, look, I look nothing like him. Are you sure you're getting the right person here? And he said, that doesn't matter, this is not an impersonation show. There's something about Charles that he sees in me. He never really said what it was, I don’t know what it is,” added the actor.

Dominic West said that the creator of the show, Peter Morgan, was interested in showing a man in his prime, one who hadn’t fulfilled his destiny, and one worried he might not get the top job until he’s an old man.

“I think what we've seen in recent events is that, well, I personally think that he is able to achieve far more as the Prince of Wales. And because as Monarch, of course, he's not allowed to do anything”, said West.

In Pictures: Public get a glimpse behind the walls of Glin Castle at open day

Does Dominic West feel sympathy for King Charles III?

West feels enormous sympathy for him. He particularly admires what he did for The Prince’s Trust, the leading UK youth charity offering training, business start-up support, and work experience.

“What he did as Prince of Wales, particularly in The Prince's Trust, is extraordinary and his care and interest in people. He has probably met more people than probably anyone else in history, apart from his parents, it's an extraordinary record”, said West.

“The marriage with Diana was a sort of tragic flaw in a way in this and at this time he is sort of a tragic hero and that that tragic flaw came about, you could say for one reason because he had to marry a virgin and, and that's, thank God, not something his son has to do,” he concluded.