A red brick. This was the only role Meg Bellamy had played before she took on the role of one of the most famous women in the world. The British actress was working at the Legoland amusement park in the city of Windsor – where the official residence of the British royal family is located – when she came across a casting call on Twitter for the final season of “The Crown”, one of the most viewed and award-winning series of the century. Demotivated after being rejected by several acting schools, in 2022 she did not even have an agent who could accompany her in her first steps in the industry, deciding only thanks to the efforts of her neighbor, who insisted on their obvious physical resemblance They decided to send a video with a suggestion for the role of Kate Middleton. Three weeks later, they responded to her email and she plunged into a testing process that would last months, while thousands of other candidates sought an opportunity that catapulted other unknown young women like Emma Corrin to international fame. Despite all odds, Bellamy managed to embrace the character while battling other, more established and popular names. Stone by stone, a star is created.
Meg Bellamy in a scene from “The Crown.” Jeff J Mitchell (Getty Images)
On December 14th, the six episodes that will conclude “The Crown” will appear on Netflix. The death of Lady Di and the romance between Guillermo (played by Ed McVey) and Kate Middleton are the key events of an outcome that will skip several years in time. Paradoxically, the demise of the 21-time Emmy Award-winning fiction novel marks the professional beginning of Meg Bellamy, who has spent the last few months trying to prepare for the media tsunami that will shatter her anonymity in the coming hours. “I can't imagine the pressure the Royals are under every day. I was in Hollywood just a month ago and now I'm there and people are chanting my name on the red carpet. But I keep telling myself that this is what I've always dreamed of, that before I could only afford to wear Primark,” she explained in the New York Times.
The 21-year-old has confessed that the biggest culture shock she has experienced in recent months was not filming in the company of famous people such as Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth) or Dominic West (Prince Charles), but the closeness and intensity of the relationship between his job and the fashion world. Valentino, Dior – she sat in the front row at her last two shows –, Cartier, Gucci… the offers to link her fate with that of the best luxury brands are multiplying, because, faced with the impossibility of getting the Princess of Wales, what Is there anything better than having your fictional alter ego sell bags? “Now I'm lucky enough to be able to wear brands that I never even dreamed I could wear,” admitted the Brit in an interview, who has so far chosen her looks as “grandfather” rather than “ “typical of a grandfather” referred to high-waisted trousers and loose sweaters.
While studying at university, Meg Bellamy was characterized as Kate Middleton. Jeff J Mitchell (Getty Images)
In just a few days everything changed. Bellamy was already one of the most photographed guests at the recent Fashion Awards and at the helm of her transformation into a red carpet star is stylist Felicity Kay, who is responsible for transforming actors such as Kit Connor (Headstopper) and Ncuti Gatwa (Sex) into one Star to transform generational obsession (Education) or Paul Mescal (Normal People). To gauge the extent to which the industry machine closely profiles the careers of its promising pups, The Telegraph revealed that the actress's advisers are already planning a new haircut for her once the series' promotional tour ends. It is the first step in getting rid of a role that receives so much attention in the media, following the example of others such as Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Phoebe Dynevor (The Bridgertons) or the aforementioned Emma Corrin, who appeared in the Fiction Lady Di plays. A wave of news on specialist websites hailing Bellamy as the new It Girl of 2024 is just days – and a trip to the hairdresser – away.
Actors Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy in a scene from “The Crown.” Andrew Milligan – PA Images (PA Images via Getty Images)
“It was great from the first read, we knew we had found something special from the start. “She’s brilliant, very charismatic and a very good actress,” says Robert Sterne, casting director of The Crown. Bellamy had to undergo a long process of preparation for the role, spending months practicing both Middleton's accent and mannerisms with various voice and movement coaches. He voraciously consumed books, documentaries and news of all kinds and even took several items of clothing home with him so that he could feel “in her skin” while rehearsing the dialogues. According to him, the task was very complicated because Middleton's life was a “blank canvas” before the official announcement of her engagement to Prince William in October 2010. There is little information about Kate, an art history student at the University of St. Andrews, so she “spent a lot of time thinking about what she was like before she knew where her life would lead and that William would be her husband “I hope I've done it justice,” adds Bellamy, who has no other projects planned in his immediate future.
Despite the two-decade difference that separates them, there are several parallels that unite Bellamy and Middleton's fates beyond their iconic brown hair. Both grew up in the same county in England, were good students and athletes, and both made their first steps into the world of student theater when the Princess of Wales played the character of Eliza Doolitle in a production of My Fair Lady. Another moment the new chapters will recreate is the university's charity parade in 2002, where Kate Middleton modeled in a sheer dress. A model that was auctioned almost a decade later for $125,000 and, according to those present, was the first to make the prince turn his head and notice the one who would end up being his and all Britons' princess. We'll see if Meg Bellamy manages to get his attention too.
Meg Bellamy at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2023 party in London. Gareth Cattermole (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)