Damian Lewis to star as Henry VIII in BBC adaptation of Mantel novels
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Version 0 of 1. He made his name as the brooding ex-marine Agent Brody in the hit US TV show Homeland, but Damian Lewis is to ditch his combat gear for a crown and robes as he takes on a more regal role. The British actor has been cast as Henry VIII in the BBC's upcoming adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Booker prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, starring opposite Mark Rylance as the machiavellian Thomas Cromwell. Lewis, 43, joins a star-studded cast that includes Sherlock actor Mark Gatiss as Stephen Gardiner – Henry VIII's loyal civil servant – Anton Lesser as Thomas More, and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey. Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies trace the meteoric rise of Cromwell from the lowly son of a blacksmith to a ruthless political leader. The BBC has recruited Peter Straughan, who was nominated for an Oscar for the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy screenplay, to write the ambitious script. The first two of Henry VIII's six wives also take centre stage in the adaptation, with Anne Boleyn played by the Little Dorrit star Claire Foy, and the ousted Catherine of Aragon being played by Joanne Whalley. The much anticipated six-part mini series, to be aired on BBC2 next year, has begun filming in both Bristol and the Wiltshire National Trust properties of Great Chalfield Manor and Lacock Abbey. Famed Shakespearian actor Rylance said: "I love it when an author, such as Hilary Mantel, does her research and discovers an original understanding of a very familiar piece of history. Even during our rehearsals her detailed imagination of the world of Thomas Cromwell is alive in Peter Straughan's ingenious and faithful adaptation." He also praised the director, Peter Kosminsky, on his choice of actors, saying: "Myself aside, I feel he has cast Wolf Hall with a superb eye for character and all the nuanced humanity Ms Mantel's masterpieces deserve." Filming was delayed by a year as the production waited for a space in Rylance's busy schedule, while Lewis will juggle filming the BBC series with his commitment to Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, which he is shooting in Morocco alongside Nicole Kidman. Mantel is currently completing the third instalment of her Cromwell trilogy, titled Mirror and the Light, which will open with Cromwell on the scaffold, moments after the execution of Boleyn. |