It’s with good reason that actress Meg Bellamy is heading into the new year excited to see what opportunities lie ahead: no one knows better than her just how unexpectedly life can change.
Plucked from obscurity to play Kate Middleton in the latest – and final – series of The Crown, she has suddenly found herself going from working in a theme park to being catapulted towards potential stardom, after sending in an audition tape to Netflix to bag the role.
“I was working in Legoland as a performer when I got the call to say I’d got the part. I was in the car park on my break,” she says, laughing. “Even though I’d been through lots of auditions, I never really thought I would actually get the part. It’s opportunities like this that every actor dreams of, so I feel very lucky and very grateful more than anything right now.”
PERFECT PARTNER
Helping 21-year-old Meg throughout the audition process was fellow newcomer Ed McVey, who plays Prince William in the series, which covers the couple’s romance while at St Andrews University.
“Ed had already been cast as William and I was one of the many who was brought in to read for the role of Kate,” she says.
“We had never met before, but it seemed easy and fun between us straight away. We clicked instantly. After that, we did another chemistry read and after I was cast, there was a lot of rehearsing and meeting up. By the time we started filming we felt very safe, which is important.
“It really helped that we could feel nervous or excited together, and to know we could lean on one another. He was the perfect screen partner.”
One of the biggest and most challenging scenes for the young actress – whose Prince Charming in real life is acrobat Connor Dutton – is when Kate charms her way into the future King’s heart by appearing in a fashion show wearing a sheer dress.
