Wolf Hall (BBC2/PBS)

[AncalagonTheBlack]

The BBC finally announce the British actor will star in the serialisation of Hilary Mantel's novels, with filming to begin in Spring 2014.

For Hilary Mantel fans with their ears to the ground, the confirmation that Mark Rylance will play Thomas Cromwell in the BBC's upcoming adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies will come as no surprise.

The six-part drama will be overseen by Bafta-winning director Peter Kosminsky (Warriors, No Child of Mine) and penned by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Straughan (The Men Who Stare at Goats, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) who will adapt both Booker Prize-winning novels.

"Peter Straughan’s scripts are a miracle of elegant compression, and I believe that with such a strong team the original material can only be enhanced,” said author Hilary Mantel.

The serialisation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies - to be shown on BBC2 and Masterpiece on PBS - is due to begin filming in Spring 2014, with transmission not scheduled until 2015.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-10-12/mark-rylance-confirmed-to-star-as-thomas-cromwell-in-wolf-hall-and-bring-up-the-bodies

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kT2lMkhldc

Wolf Hall premiers 21 January on BBC2 in the UK, and April 5 on PBS Masterpiece in the USA.

Cast

• Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell
  
• Damian Lewis as Henry VIII of England
  
• Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn
  
• Mark Gatiss as Stephen Gardiner
  
• Charity Wakefield as Mary Boleyn
  
• Joanne Whalley as Catherine of Aragon
  
• Jonathan Pryce as Thomas Wolsey
  
• Anton Lesser as Thomas More
  
• Emma Hiddleston as Meg More
  
• Joss Porter as Richard Cromwell
  
• Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Ralph Sadler
  
• Tom Holland (actor) as Gregory Cromwell
  
• Ed Speleers as Edward Seymour
  
• Kate Phillips as Jane Seymour
  
• Florence Bell as Helen Barre
  
• Saskia Reeves as Johane
  
• Iain Batchelor as Thomas Seymour
  
• Jessica Raine as Jane Boleyn
  
• Paul Clayton as William Kingston
  
• Richard Dillane as Charles Brandon
  
• Jack Lowden as Thomas Wyatt
  

[Veltigar]

Thanks for posting this, I might have missed the first episode otherwise :) Great cast, the trailer looks promising and if Bring Up the Bodies is anything to go by, great source material.

[Mark Antony]

Wasn't impressed by the trailer but I really loved the novel(s) so I will definitely watch. Damian Lewis also is a good way to get me on board :D

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Saw a teaser for this on Sunday after Downton Abbey. It sounds interesting.

[The Anti-Targ]

Been meaning to read the book. I guess I might just go straight for the TV series. Is it available on BBC iPlayer? I'm not in the UK or USA, but I can watch BBC iPLayer.

[red snow]

Mark Rylance is one of those chameleon actors who can look completely different in whatever role he plays. Unfortunately the same can't be said of Damien Lewis who is suffering from looking like "Damien Lewis in a Henry VIII" costume. I think that detracts from the trailer somewhat - hopefully it isn't as jarring in the actual show. I'll still be checking it out as I have "the tudors" as a yardstick.

I'm surprised the BBC got the rights to this rather than Hollywood considering how massive the books are. I guess it could be a case of the bbc getting the rights before the book's success went through the roof?

[Isis]

I have yet to read the book even though it was bought for me as a present a few years back.

However, when I saw Mark Rylance in the trailer I had a bit of a HOLY SHIT MARK RYLANCE IS IN THIS I'D BETTER READ THAT BOOK NOW moment. He's a truly amazing actor. I guess the hardest thing for him will be not making everyone else look like they're made of wood.

[red snow]

I have yet to read the book even though it was bought for me as a present a few years back.

However, when I saw Mark Rylance in the trailer I had a bit of a HOLY SHIT MARK RYLANCE IS IN THIS I'D BETTER READ THAT BOOK NOW moment. He's a truly amazing actor. I guess the hardest thing for him will be not making everyone else look like they're made of wood.

It is a real danger and yes the guy is amazing. I saw him perform "Jerusalem" a few years back and couldn't believe he was the same guy doing interviews for it. He could easily have been a Daniel Day Lewis type but his passion seems to mainly revolve around theatre and has done some great work in the running of the globe theatre. I'm not even a theatre-lovey so can only imagine how they feel about him.

[Calibandar]

First episode was worth seeing I thought.

As usual I'm a fan of Damien Lewis, he makes for a much more interesting King here than the actor in the Tudors ( Jonathan Rhys?)

[red snow]

First episode was worth seeing I thought.

As usual I'm a fan of Damien Lewis, he makes for a much more interesting King here than the actor in the Tudors ( Jonathan Rhys?)

I didn't even know it had started! That's what happens when you don't watch BBC live. Will iplayer it though.

JRD set a fairly low bar for Damien to conquer. I did however like the guy who played Cromwell in Tudors but Rylance.

[dog-days]

Just seen the first episode. Enjoyed it. In particular, Anne and Mary Boleyn, the Duke of Norfolk and Stephen Gardiner. The lighting really was something - the scenes by candlelight were some of the most visually striking things I've seen in a while. Made me want to put out some lanterns, turn out the lights and brood dramatically.

Like everyone else, I admire Mark Rylance's tremendous abilities. Still, I would have preferred it if he'd brought more vigour to the role in places. Perhaps he will yet. But with the camera dutifully following his back through cathedrals, cloisters and stately homes, I found myself mentally saying 'Giddy up! Come on, Cromwell - you'll never make Lord Chancellor at this pace!"

So I think I prefer Ben Miles's more lively stage interpretation.

Neither Ben Miles nor Rylance seem physically to be at all in line with the way Cromwell is described in the books, or with the Holbein portrait.That is, looking like he wants to smash your face in and take your dinner money. I wonder why in the case of both the film and the stage play, the directors have gone for fine-boned rather sensitive looking men? (Not that Rylance can't play tough, but that's definitely not what he's doing here.)

Nathaniel Parker was really good as Henry on stage. Genial and charismatic, and hopelessly conceited and childish by turns. Damian Lewis seems a bit more adult, so far - perhaps due to the different medium, since theatre calls for 'big' acting - and more observant about what's really going on around him. Will be interesting to see how the performance develops.

Sorry for taking up part of this post with a discussion of plays many won't have seen. But the urge to compare/contrast proved too strong to resist.

Would have liked it if they'd drawn out the dinner party scene a bit more. It seems a waste to have More and Cromwell at the same table for such a short amount of screen-time. They'd both definitely be somewhere on my list in a 'Your Ideal Dinner Guests' thread.

Rylance's timing and expressions in that scene were just perfect though.

[Hos the Hostage]

Mostly great casting. Enjoyed watching people from my favorite fantasy series in another period drama. King Theoden playing Uncle Norfolk, High Septon playing Wolsey, and Jojen getting out of the North to be reborn as Rafe Sadler. However, I imagined Richard Cromwell (being the king's cousin) to look more stately. BBC's Richard looked more like(not just appearance, expressions too) Henry VIII I pictured. Maybe my interpretation of the show-acting was wrong. (I generally misinterprets emotions and expressions.) Mark Smeaton speaks more confidently than Cromwell, I thought Cromwell was supposed to look intimidating. Somehow I never found him menacing. Maybe because he is near Wolsey, his family of the king.

The set, costumes and hairstyling was great, especially in the case of Anne Boleyn. Looks closer to the real Anne's portrait than Natalie Dormer(the Tudors) or Natalie Portman(Other Boleyn girl) did.

[voodooqueen126]

the actor playing Cromwell looks to gentle and sensitive, the Cromwell of the books and portrait could smash his face in. But I can't wait to see it. The Books are fantastic.

[Martini Sigil]

This looks great... thanks!

[voodooqueen126]

Just saw the first episode. It was fantastic.

[red snow]

Cromwell is intimidating just not physically. Every encounter he had with a person higher up the pecking order, he was able to wrong-foot them. That takes balls - especially with the King (although it looks as if that's what wins him over).

Not having read the books (sitting in kindle limbo) I don't know how Mantel's take pans out but I do hope we see him in more "grey" terms as the series progresses. For his introduction he seemed a bit too "good" and "put upon). The acting was uniformly great and I loved the slow and subtle approach to the storytelling. Again I'm not sure whether this pace will fit the books (given they have 6 episodes to cover a lot of pages) but I enjoyed it.

The interior scenes were a bit tricky in that they seemed too "real" which is an odd comment but it felt like I was watching "changing rooms - Tudor style" when Wolsely's stuff was being packed up at the start of the episode.

[SheRa Seastar]

I've not read the books, does it get more lively? It was a bit slow and quiet. I did laugh when he made the joke about Anne Boleyn's tits though. I'll watch next weeks one before I decide whether to persevere or not.

[BigFatCoward]

i really enjoyed it, but i'm not sure why, not much happened and they need to get a wriggle on with only 6 episodes.

[dog-days]

Cromwell is intimidating just not physically. Every encounter he had with a person higher up the pecking order, he was able to wrong-foot them. That takes balls - especially with the King (although it looks as if that's what wins him over).

Not having read the books (sitting in kindle limbo) I don't know how Mantel's take pans out but I do hope we see him in more "grey" terms as the series progresses. For his introduction he seemed a bit too "good" and "put upon). The acting was uniformly great and I loved the slow and subtle approach to the storytelling. Again I'm not sure whether this pace will fit the books (given they have 6 episodes to cover a lot of pages) but I enjoyed it.

The books are very tightly tied to his point of view. I think that how (un)sympathetic he gets will depend partly on whether the BBC series goes a little outside of his perspective.

I do feel he is a bit too nice/perfect in the books. In the stage play, I remember that he seemed markedly darker in "Bring Up The Bodies" because of certain things that happen, and because putting something on stage tends to make you notice more what someone actually does rather than what they think or feel.

We're still waiting for "The Mirror and the Light" when he'll reach the height of his influence and fall from it within a few months. We'll see if Mantel lets some more shadows appear in his characterisation when he's at his peak - that's when you'd expect his character to most resemble the expression of his portrait.

Cromwell's last letter is very sad. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the third book or not.

I've not read the books, does it get more lively? It was a bit slow and quiet. I did laugh when he made the joke about Anne Boleyn's tits though. I'll watch next weeks one before I decide whether to persevere or not.

It'll get a bit more lively, but never "The Tudors" lively. Now that Cromwell's character's been introduced, we'll see more of him going about the King's business. More More, more divorce, more snobbish nobles, with hopefully quite a lot more funny lines along the way.