Elizabeth Debicki of ‘The Crown’ Claims Her Throne on the Cover of ‘Queue’ Issue 12
What better way to ring in spring than with the 12th issue of Queue? Gracing the cover is Elizabeth Debicki, the luminous actor who brings tremendous depth and nuance to her portrayal of Princess Diana in the fifth (and soon-to-be sixth) season of The Crown.
As Peter Morgan’s acclaimed drama heads into the twenty-first century, Queue speaks with the stunning Australian about playing the beloved Princess of Wales at a moment when she is attempting to chart a more independent course for her life while becoming the subject of even more intense scrutiny. “You have to sift through what Diana’s become — because people need her to become a certain representation or symbol — to get to the real-life person,” Debicki says of how she began to approach the formidable creative challenge that lay ahead of her.
Creative challenges are something the stars of BEEF Steven Yeun and Ali Wong know all too well. With the acclaimed road-rage dramedy, conceived by writer and showrunner Lee Sung Jin (Dave), the actors pushed themselves to the artistic limit, exploring the wildly complex and unpredictable relationship between Wong’s self-made entrepreneur Amy Lau and Yeun’s down-on-his-luck contractor Danny Cho, as well as the roots of their individual failings and frustrations. “They can’t let it go,” Yeun tells Queue of the characters’ intense rivalry. “They’re this weird, antagonistic lifeline for each other.”
Navigating their emotionally taxing scenes together, Yeun and Wong relied on their offscreen rapport to keep things as light as possible while filming. “Even though we play these enemies, what really happened off-camera was this beautiful friendship,” Wong says.
Debicki, Yeun, Wong, and Lee aren’t the only high-profile creatives sharing insight into their process in Queue Issue 12. Wednesday Addams herself (sometimes known as Jenna Ortega) reveals that she experienced a certain amount of trepidation before donning the iconic braids to play popular culture’s most loved outcast in the hit series Wednesday. It was the opportunity to shine a new light on the character’s cultural heritage that ultimately helped convince the 20-year-old actor. “I can’t think of a Latina character who has the same reach [that] Wednesday Addams does,” says Ortega. Queue also spoke with Wednesday’s lauded costume designer Colleen Atwood, an industry legend who brought her wealth of expertise to the series — simultaneously paying homage to the macabre teen’s fashion roots and contemporizing the delightfully deadpan character.
A true icon in her own right, Pamela Anderson shares with Queue the impetus for making her astonishingly candid and emotional documentary, Pamela, a love story. The project chronicles the actor and activist’s tumultuous life, offering perhaps the first truly unvarnished examination of the woman behind the larger-than-life persona. Niecy Nash-Betts and Evan Peters, stars of DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, open up about the experience of watching their series take the culture by storm — and pondering why the harrowing 10-episode drama struck such a chord with audiences. And we also chat with friends and collaborators Mo Amer and Ramy Youssef, the comedians and friends who partnered on the acclaimed comedy Mo, inspired by Amer’s life as a Palestinian refugee trying to make his way in Texas.
Plus, Queue’s Issue 12 sees award-winning creator and musician Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (Entergalactic) connecting with Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities); while rising star Teyonah Parris reveals how she transformed her sex worker character in the outrageously entertaining sci-fi satire They Cloned Tyone into an unconventional and unforgettable heroine. To close out the print issue, we raise a toast to Queen Imelda Staunton whose work as the late Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown has been nothing short of mesmerizing.
Queue’s storytelling continues beyond the magazine’s pages on the podcast Skip Intro with Krista Smith. This time around, Krista chats with Emmy Award-nominated actor Keri Russell, who finds an opportunity to portray levity, drama, and complicated femininity in the new series The Diplomat, as well as Rob Lowe, whose many gifts — including his preternaturally youthful appearance — are on full display in the buzzy new workplace comedy, Unstable.
Head to the Netflix shop and order the latest issue of Queue to sample these stories and much, much more.