Dominic West says Prince Harry's memoir influenced his performance on “The Crown”

"It did slightly affect the way we played that key scene where he wakes Harry up," the actor says.

A lot of people rushed to buy Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, when the book was published in January. Among them? British actor Dominic West, who plays Harry's father Prince Charles — now King Charles III — on The Crown and was shooting the show's sixth and final season when Spare came out.

In a new interview with Variety, West calls the memoir a "gift" and reveals that it influenced his performance in a scene where his Charles informs Harry about the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

"I bought it immediately, and I think it did slightly affect the way we played that key scene where he wakes Harry up," West says.

In Spare, Harry describes the sad moment by recalling, "Pa didn't hug me. He wasn't great at showing emotions under normal circumstances. But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said, 'It's going to be okay.'"

West met Charles on a couple occasions before being cast on The Crown, but threw himself into researching the then-Prince of Wales after securing the role.

"I took advantage of the huge research department of The Crown," West told EW last year. "They sent me lots of videos, lots of interviews. I mean, it's the thing about him: There's so much on him, and every single moment of his life has been scrutinized and recorded, so there's a lot to go on."

In addition, West took it upon himself to conduct some hands-on research.

"He has a farm estate that he rescued in Cornwall... and you can rent cottages there," the actor said. "I went there for week, just to sort of carry on my reading and research and walk around and think about him and be in a place [imbued] by his personality. I went to Highgrove [Charles' private residence] as well and joined a garden tour there. So I really enjoyed the travel aspects and going to the places where he's had an effect."

All six seasons of The Crown are now streaming on Netflix.

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