Tuesday, 1st June 2021 at 6:03 pm
Channel 5 upcoming psychological thriller Anne Boleyn stars Jodie Turner-Smith as Henry VIII’s ill-fated second wife Anne Boleyn, now considered to be one of the most influential queen consorts in history.
Advertisement
The producers used identity-conscious casting for the series, similar to how theatre productions have long approached casting historical plays.
Mark Stanley, who plays Henry VIII in the Anne Boleyn cast, told
RadioTimes.com, “Jodie has a lot in common with Anne Boleyn. She’s a strong, opinionated, scarily intelligent person. She was also bringing up a young child at the time that we were on set, and she’s quite awe-inspiring really. If you put that all in a box, actually, it’s very similar indeed.
4.0 out of 5 star rating
Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is having a bad dream. A fly buzzes around the gauzy white bed curtains, which – combined with the fly – uncomfortably resemble something like a shroud. When she wakes up, we see her Afro-textured hair is bound in a hair wrap.
Advertisement
Anne heads to her husband’s bedchamber, and in turn she wakes the King of England, Henry VIII, by straddling and choking him. He’s aroused, and (it’s implied) performs oral sex on his pregnant queen.
It’s an extraordinary and modern scene, one that you might expect to find in a present-day psychological thriller. And while Bridgerton viewers may be less surprised to see Black actors in a period drama, the use of casting in Anne Boleyn isn’t based on an alternate historical timeline.
Sign me up! Immediate Media Company Limited (publishers of radiotimes.com) would love to send you our Drama newsletters. We may also send occasional updates from our editorial team. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we hold your personal data, please see our privacy policy.
âIt was freezing cold! That was a challenge, I think back then they would have the fires burning 24/7⦠I mean surely they must have done because itâs freezing,â says Turner-Smith of her filming experience.
âOur Director Lynsey (Miller) said to me that in this production it wasnât going to be like Anne is living in a chocolate box, it was going to be much more realistic, visceral and dirty â it was definitely all of those things! But it was cool because we did a lot of filming in Bolton Castle and there is definitely an energy to filming in places like that, especially when a building is historical and so man