Jodie Turner-Smith has reflected on being the first black actress to be cast as Anne Boleyn in Channel 5 s forthcoming three-part drama.
Speaking to Radio Times on Tuesday, The Queen and Slim star, 34, admitted that she knew it might be a stretch for some viewers to see her as the doomed second wife of Henry VIII, but said she was sure others were finally ready to see her in the role.
Jodie is the first black actress to portray Anne, and she follows in the footsteps of Natalie Dormer, Claire Foy and Natalie Portman by playing the historic part. I am aware it s going to be a stretch for some people : Jodie Turner-Smith reflected on being the first black actress to be cast as Anne Boleyn in a new interview on Tuesday
#MeTudor: how Anne Boleyn’s life foreshadowed our modern political battles
A new Channel 5 drama proves that interest in the life of the doomed Tudor queen is evergreen – and for understandable reasons
24 May 2021 • 5:00am
Jodie Taylor-Smith (c) as Anne Boleyn in Channel 5 s new drama about the doomed Tudor queen
Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh/ViacomCBS
Last week marked the 485th anniversary of Anne Boleyn’s death, but she is not forgotten. Far from it. Her story has been told many times, ever since an ageing William Shakespeare co-wrote Henry VIII, about Henry’s struggle to divorce Catherine of Aragon and wed Anne instead. For five centuries, Anne’s life has been picked apart by storytellers, all keen to discover what her life says about us. Indeed, every generation finds its own Anne Boleyn.
Thatâs my name. Itâs always been my name. Iâm taking back whatâs mine.
Thandiwe Newton
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In a Vogue interview in April, a major Hollywood star revealed that she had never appeared on screen under her real name. When Thandiwe Newton made her debut in Flirting in 1991, she was credited as âThandieâ â an Anglicised nickname â without her say-so. She ended up sticking to it, but times have begun to change, and she has said she wants to take back what is hers and always has been: her name.
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Talking about the new show stills and the anniversary of Anne Boleyn s death, Jodie said: There s so much about Anne’s legend that people believe – whether it s that she was a witch, she had six fingers, or that she had an incestuous relationship with her brother – we ve seen all these things portrayed in popular culture. I think that for the most part we ve seen (Anne’s) story told through the lens of the other people around her.
Historic: Henry VIII s second wife Anne Boleyn was famously beheaded on 19 May in 1536 for high treason after failing to produce a male heir (Jodie pictured as Anne, right, in still)
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It then shows her in childbirth, desperately asking if her child was a boy before she is seen arguing with King Henry VIII (Mark Stanley) yelling: You promised me sons.
Another character is heard asking Anne if her husband no longer visits her chamber, and King Henry is seen giving Jane Seymour (Lola Petticrew) an affectionate look as he and Anne attend a party.
Doomed: The trailer opens with Thomas Cromwell (Barry Ward) informing Anne she is being charged with treason, to which she immediately pleads not guilty
Events: It also shows her in childbirth, desperately asking if her child was a boy , Anne famously gave birth to Elizabeth who went on to be the Queen of England