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The Crownis hurtling toward one of the royals' darkest moments, and now the show has announced who will play a central figure in the last moments inPrincess Diana’s life.
Netflix’sEmmy-winningfictionalization of the British monarchy’s recent history announced on Thursday viaVarietythat it has cast Khalid Abdalla to playDodi Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire scion who was romantically involved with Diana in her final months. The couple died together, along with their driver, in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Abdalla, 39, is a British actor best known for the Oscar-nominated 2006 filmUnited 93. He’s also appeared inThe Kite Runner,Green Zone,Assassin’s Creedand Amazon Prime’s serialized adaptation of the teen assassin storyHanna.
Though Glasgow-born, the actor grew up in London and was studied English literature Queens' College, Cambridge. Before his 2005 onscreen debut in the British spy dramaSpooks, cut his teeth as a theater actor around the same time asThe Town’s Rebecca Hall andDownton Abbey’s Dan Stevens. In November 2010, Abdalla was awarded special recognition for achievements in cinema at the Cairo International Film Festival.
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Like Diana’s boyfriend, the actor is of Egyptian descent, though his parents were anti-regime activists who emigrated to the U.K. before his birth. In 2011, following in the activism of his parents, he joined the protests against dictator Hosni Mubarak in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and was even featured on CNN speaking with Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer.
After Mubarak’s fall, Abdalla co-founded the Mosireen Collective, a group of independent activist filmmakers who share footage that challenge state-run propaganda and train future filmmakers to carry on the group’s mission.
Also in 2011, Abdalla married actor and cinematographer Cressida Trew, his longtime love and scene partner — they shared the Judges' Award for Acting at the National Student Drama Festival in 2007, and worked together (he in front of the camera, she behind it) on 2013’sThe Square.
The Crown/Netflix
The Crownbeganfilming its upcoming, penultimate seasonthis summer. Though details are scarce, Diana and Charles' contentious public split is certain to be pivotal to the new episodes. And Abdalla’s casting signalsDiana’s whirlwind romance with Dodi, 42, will be examined.
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During their brief time together, Diana even brought along 15-year-oldPrince Williamand 12-year-oldPrince Harryto spend time with Dodi, though many questioned the romance, withDiana: the Intimate Portraitbiographer Judy Wade biographer Judy Wade telling PEOPLE “Dodi became Diana’s distraction.”
After soaking up the August sun in St. Tropez, the pair were on the last leg of their summer travels when they flew to Paris. In the early morning hours of August 31, they were fleeing the paparazzi at high speed when driver Henri Paul crashed his Mercedes-Benz in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.
Dodi and Henri Paul were declared dead at the scene around 1 a.m. local time, and Diana’s death was confirmed around 4 a.m.. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the only survivor.
A year later,Rees-Jones toldThe Telegraph, “If I could have died and those three survived, I would have done it. If I could have done something … I go mad thinking about ‘if onlys.'”
The Crownseasons 1–4 are streaming now on Netflix.
source: people.com
