In Disney+'s upcoming thriller, A Murder at the End of the World, Emma Corrin stars as Darby, a hacker and sleuth on the trail of a murderer stalking an exclusive getaway. It's a story we're becoming all too familiar with: a bunch of odd characters are invited to a billionaire's house, and all hell breaks loose. Who has orchestrated the madness?
While the series has been pulling in mixed reviews – "the whodunnit aspect makes A Murder at the End of The World, despite the lavish visuals, start to feel quite generic," said the Standard – Corrin has once again been heralded for their acting skills. By all accounts, it seems that the 27-year-old can do no wrong.
And so, although it’s only been several years since Corrin became a megastar after playing Princess Diana in The Crown, they have already featured in some major films and shows, as well as in a West End play, with leading roles in Michael Grandage’s My Policeman, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover and in Neil Bartlett’s adaptation of Orlando at The Garrick Theatre. Here we rank their best roles yet, in ascending order.
Lady Chatterley, Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022 film)
Expectation was sky-high for Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s 2022 adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover: not only was the 1928 book hugely controversial for decades because of how it depicted sex, but Clermont-Tonnerre’s debut feature film, The Mustang, has a whopping 95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, despite Corrin faultlessly playing the young wife Constance Reid (Lady Chatterley), they had zero sexual chemistry with Jack O'Connell, who played Oliver Mellors, the working class gamekeeper. “The problem is there isn’t a scintilla of chemistry between them and as a result the sex is strangely boring,” said the Standard.
Marion Taylor, My Policeman (2022)
My Policeman was one of the most highly-anticipated British films of 2022: it starred Corrin alongside Harry Styles (who was in the news mixed up in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling fiasco), and was directed by celebrated theatre director Michael Grandage. Based on Bethan Roberts’ 2012 romance novel of the same name, it told the tale of a closeted gay officer in 1957, navigating life in a time when it was illegal (homosexuality was made legal in the UK a decade later). The Standard panned its “plodding” script, and didn’t buy into the romance between Styles and Corrin’s characters, but nonetheless, the film proved that Corrin, who transformed into a gentle Fifties wife, could be a total chameleon.
Diana, The Crown (2020)
Although Corrin had featured in several major TV shows, including Grantchester and Pennyworth, and had bagged film roles in 2020's Misbehaviour and in the short Alex’s Dream, their big break was playing Diana in The Crown. Corrin managed to utterly transform into the vulnerable young woman who was just 16 when she met Prince Charles, and was 20 when they married. Speaking to The Telegraph in 2020, Corrin said, “I was told my life would change as much as hers did.” The advice was sound: Corrin won a Critics’ Choice award and a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Emmy for playing Diana, and they were catapulted into worldwide fame.
Orlando, Garrick Theatre (2022)
Virginia Woolf’s sex-changing, time-travelling protagonist, Orlando, has only ever been played by formidable actors, with Miranda Richardson, Isabelle Huppert and Tilda Swinton transforming into the iconic character. All eyes were on Corrin, then, when it was announced that they would step into the complicated role in a new stage production in the West End, and they smashed it. The Standard described Corrin as “captivating”, saying, “Without Corrin, I’m not sure this would be half so much fun… Kudos is due to Corrin for putting themself on the line. They’re a great stage performer.”
