Issue 29

Sometimes a star bursts onto the scene and shines so brightly that everyone around them appears as though they’re cast in shadow. If you’ve watched series three and four of Netflix’s The Crown, you’ll recognise Erin Doherty as one such light (and if you’ve yet to commit to the streaming service’s sumptuous, star-studded, award-winning (and, yes, largely made-up) stately production, then you’ve got at least one thing to look forward to now that the evenings are drawing in). So visceral was Doherty’s turn as Princess Anne that series’ creator, Peter Morgan, was continually pressed to feature more scenes starring the sharp-witted 16-year-old royal.

Since The Crown, Doherty has lit up BBC One’s psychological thriller Chloe, and is about to set the stage ablaze when she begins her run as Abigail Williams in The Crucible, showing at the National Theatre from 14 September. Doherty is on fire. Though, as she explains on page 36, sometimes the heat of the spotlight can be scalding.

Sopé Dìrísù was on the ascendency even before his role in horror film His House saw him nominated for the Rising Star Award at last year’s BAFTAs. As undercover policeman Elliot Finch in the wildly popular crime series Gangs of London, Dìrísù can lay claim to helping make the programme one of the top five most-watched series on Sky Atlantic ever. Except he wouldn’t do that, as he’s far too humble, which you’ll discover on page 34.

Ellen von Unwerth’s highly-charged shots of fashion stars and rock stars meant that she became a star in her own right. Five years on from the publication of her provocative coffee-table tome Heimat, the German photographer explains why she’s never seen her work as political on page 78.

Actress, model, singer, sex symbol. Marilyn Monroe was perhaps the greatest movie star of the 20th century – her death inspiring some of the most speculated conspiracy theories of all time. As new biopic Blonde (Netflix, again) re-tells Monroe’s doomed trajectory, we explore the role played by the rumoured relationship between her and the other Kennedy brother in her tragic final days. (Clue: she and Bobby weren’t exactly star-crossed lovers.)

Some other stars in this issue: the new Range Rover (p.14), the old Mercedes Gullwing (p.96), Canada’s best new hotel (p.18), Tate Modern’s new Cézanne exhibition (p.52) and the Kensington institution that is (and, coincidentally, was Princess Margaret’s favourite hangout) Maggie Jones’s.

Autumn’s here. An Indian Summer’s supposedly on the way. Count your lucky stars.

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