Luther Ford (left); Prince Harry.Photo:Getty

Getty
Luther Fordis looking back on a memorable 2023.
In anInstagram poston New Year’s Eve, the actor shared a carousel of images from throughout the year, including a screenshot of a text conversation that seems to have been the inspiration behind his audition to play teenagePrince HarryonThe Crown.
As the post’s seventh slide, Ford included a screenshot of a message exchange between himself and an unidentified person. The conversation begins with the person texting Ford a picture of a Facebook post advertising a casting call forThe Crown, specifically seeking a “young actor to play Prince Harry in the next series.”
Luther Ford’s Instagram post.Luther Ford/Instagram

Luther Ford/Instagram
This prompts the person he’s texting to respond, “Doesn’t hurt to try,” to which Ford concedes, “Haha okay will do.”
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Elsewhere in the Instagram post, Ford shared flicks of himself alongside costarsEd McVey, who playsPrince William, andMeg Bellamy, who playsKate Middleton. Beyond that, he also shared a screenshot of a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) containing an article that revealed his role onThe Crown.
The aforementioned message exchange clearly had a profound impact on Ford, who captioned the entire post “Doesn’t hurt to try,” as an homage to the text he received, adding that they were “Wise words.”
Flynn Edwards as Prince Harry in ‘The Crown’. ; Luther Ford on set of ‘The Crown’. ; Prince Harry during the Braemar gathering held in Scotland in 2001.Keith Bernstein/Netflix ; SplashNews.com ; David Cheskin - PA Images/PA Images/Getty

Keith Bernstein/Netflix ; SplashNews.com ; David Cheskin - PA Images/PA Images/Getty
Ford was tasked with portraying Harry during some of the most formative years of his life on the hit Netflix series. His role picks up where Fflyn Edwards, who portrays Harry as a young boy earlier in Season 6, leaves off. Ford steps in as a teenage Harry to continue the story through the early 2000s, withThe Crownparticularly highlighting the relationship between Harry and William at the time.
“Pretty much everything relating to Harry in the series is about the relationship between William and Harry,” the actor explained in an interview with Netflix’sTudum. “Every day that I was shooting, I was with Ed.”
Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton and Ed McVey as Prince William in The Crown.Justin Downing/Netflix

Justin Downing/Netflix
DespiteThe Crownbeing both Ford and McVey’s professional acting debuts, the former noted to the publication that “He [McVey] had gone to drama school and he is an actor," which led to him mentoring Ford through the filming process. “He was very generous and kind and guided me through it all.”
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Ford cited a surprise factor as an advantage for him and his costars Ed McVey (Prince William) and Meg Bellamy (Kate Middleton): their age.
“Obviously, it is close to the present, but the fact that we didn’t live through it means that there is a kind of natural distance for us. Someone older would feel that that was very familiar,” Ford, 23, said.
Parts 1 and 2 ofThe CrownSeason 6 are available to stream on Netflix now.
source: people.com