Category: Wolf Hall
“Wolf Hall” > DVD Featurettes Pt. II
“Wolf Hall” > DVD Featurettes Pt. I
Television Series > Wolf Hall (Mini-Series) > DVD Extras > Featurette – Bringing It To The Screen
Claire Foy: an actor bringing a subtle talent to majestic roles
Her steely, understated approach won praise when playing Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall and now Foy is taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in a new drama
Emine Saner
Some castings seem so obvious in retrospect. Pictures released this week show Claire Foy playing Queen Elizabeth II on her wedding day in 1947, and just as you cannot picture the older Elizabeth as anyone other than Helen Mirren, when The Crown, an ambitious 60-part Netflix drama, comes out next year, the younger version will probably be forever linked with Foy.
It is not just in the facial similarities; they both have the same tiny physical stature, but with a steely, slightly terrifying core, a thousand words summed up in a single glance.
She is not, of course, Foy’s first queen. As Anne Boleyn in the BBC’s recent stunning adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, Foy had some of the best reviews of her career. Until Wolf Hall, she had been working steadily, but without the hype that many young actors at a similar point in their careers would attract. There was something quieter about her approach. She always seemed happier to be getting interesting roles, rather than boosting her own profile or becoming a ‘star ’. Her private life – she is married to the actor Stephen Campbell Moore and they recently had their first child – was similarly low key, and hardly tabloid fodder.
In interviews, she has said she is not interested in trying to break Hollywood and has never been comfortable being photographed: “I’m too conscious of looking like a dick. That’s the difference between a star and a normal person. I’ve never been someone who walks into a room and people gasp.” She is “not fussed” about exposure: “I’m never going to be a film star and I’m not chasing it. I’m very happy playing interesting parts.” It is an attitude that will work in her favour in the long run, though The Crown will almost certainly catapult her into another level of fame. Continue reading Claire Foy: an actor bringing a subtle talent to majestic roles
Claire Foy on fate of outspoken Anne Boleyn in ‘Wolf Hall’ [Exclusive Video]
By Chris Beachum
“Even in the end when she is waiting to be executed, she’s very true to herself. She doesn’t pander to anyone or anything like that. I think she’s already a solid, strong person from beginning to end,” reveals actress Claire Foy about her real-life role as Queen Anne Boleyn in the limited series “Wolf Hall.” This six-part saga aired in the U.S. on PBS under the umbrella of “Masterpiece” programming.
In her recent interview with Gold Derby (watch below), Foy discusses in-depth her character, the second wife of King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis). While she was outspoken, her failure to produce a male offspring was eventually her downfall and led to a public beheading. She adds, “History would have been very, very different if she had a son… That’s all he wanted, and he was such a maniac for having (that). He wanted to continue the line as the throne would be safe.”
For this lavish British production, the behind-the-scenes team working on production design, costumes, hair and makeup helped the actors assume their roles. Foy says, “The locations we were in were extraordinary, and a lot of them were locations that had been visited by Henry VIII… The art department did some incredible things dressing it, but so much of it came from the buildings we were in. And the costumes were just extraordinary… and amazing to wear, painful but amazing.”
The series is based on two award-winning novels by Hilary Mantel, with the focus on the rise of royal advisor Thomas Cromwell (three-time Tony winner Mark Rylance) and his championing of a marriage between Henry and Anne in the early 16th century. Director Peter Kosminsky filmed the lavish production in some of the finest British medieval and Tudor houses.
‘She was once given the title of Queen. Mistakenly’ – Wolf Hall: Episode 5 Preview – BBC Two
After Katherine’s death, Henry’s coldness towards the former Queen is apparent. Meanwhile Cromwell notices Henry’s growing interest in Jane Seymour. And he’s not the only one.
‘He can put another Queen in my place?’ – Wolf Hall: Episode 4 Preview – BBC Two
Wolf Hall – A look ahead…
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