Prasanna Puwanarajah, Who Plays Martin Bashir On ‘The Crown’, Says Parts Like That “Just Don’t Really Exist For Asian Actors”

03.11.2022 - 20:01 / deadline.com

EXCLUSIVE: Prasanna Puwanarajah said he jumped at the opportunity to appear in The Crown portraying infamous television journalist Martin Bashir, pummeled by a BBC inquiry that condemned the “deceitful” methods he used to obtain the controversial 1995 Panorama TV interview with Princess Diana, because ”roles like that just don’t really exist for Asian actors.”

The actor’s comments come as the UK print media continue to whip itself into a frenzied state over the Emmy-winning Netflix and Left Bank Pictures series, which takes a looking-through-the-keyhole approach to events that involved the late Queen Elizabeth II, her family and her prime ministers. Season 5, which begins streaming November 9, particularly zeroes in on the messy dissolution of Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and Diana’s 14-year marriage. Imelda Staunton (Downton Abbey, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) stars as Queen Elizabeth.

Puwanarajah (Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned, Patrick Melrose, Ten Percent) pops up in two episodes of The Crown that explore not only how he secured the interview with Diana, but also the part played by senior BBC executives: Steve Hewlett (Michael Jibson), who as editor of Panorama was Bashir’s immediate boss; John Birt (Nicholas Gleaves), then director-general of the corporation; and Marmaduke Hussey (Richard Cordery), the patrician chairman of the board of governors of the BBC. Hussey happened to be married to Lady Susan Hussey (Haydn Gwynne), who served for decades as senior lady-in-waiting to the Queen. She’s also godmother to Prince William, now the Prince of Wales, who is portrayed by Senan West, son of Dominic West, who’s compelling as Charles as is Elizabeth Debicki who plays Diana.

Princess Diana’s