Dominic West has spoken about his experience following the release of photographs of him and Lily James in 2020.
When shooting the film The Pursuit Of Love together in Rome photos of the pair appearing to kiss were released, which West has shared affected his family.
Following the emergence of the photos, West and his wife, Irish aristocrat Catherine Fitzgerald, to whom he has been married since 2010, appeared outside their home and addressed paparazzi. The couple shared a kiss and placed a sign outside their house which read: “Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together.”
Now, speaking with The Sunday Times, West has reflected on the incident and how it informed his portrayal of then Prince Charles in The Crown.
Speaking on the public scrutiny, West shared: “I’d had a very acute understanding of what it’s like to feel the horror of your name or your photograph coming up in the newspapers.”
“There is that dreadful freezing moment when something is being revealed about you,” he described.
“I think anyone can understand how that feels,” he continued. “But I’d been through it a couple of years previously and it must have informed how I approached it. That gut feeling of horror isn’t something you get inured to.”
He continued to explain the effect it has had on his wife: “I hesitate to speak on my wife’s behalf because it was obviously horrible, particularly for her.”
However, he shared that the couple are able to find humour in the moment, saying: “But we do joke about it sometimes. Because whenever we went out together, the papers would always say we were ‘putting on a show of unity’.”
He continued: “Even if we’d just been rowing about parking the car or whatever, even if that couldn’t be further from the truth. And so when we go out we do sort of say, ‘Shall we go out and have a show of unity up in London?’”
He explained that the “absurd” situation was “deeply stressful for [his] wife and kids, but there were lighter moments.”
Elsewhere, a Nationwide advert starring West has been banned for being “misleading”.