If They Were To Remake This...
who would you cast as Anne? as Henry?
I think Eva Green (the dreamers) would make a good Anne.
shareI can't really picture anyone as either of them... I'd want to go with exceptionally unique unknowns.
"Behind every bold man, is a smart woman."
Alfred Molina as Henry and for anne probably Kate Winslet or Laura Linney
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Charlize Theron as Anne
George Clooney as Henry
:)
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I would say Catherine Zeta-Jones as Anne. She has the exotic dark coloring that Anne Boleyn was famous for, and a sense of daring always comes across in much of her work. Anne was a smart, charismatic and sometimes unlikeable woman, but she and Henry birthed two children- Elizabeth and the Church of England.
Casting Henry would be more difficult.I'd go with Kenneth Branagh. Many immediately think of Henry as the overweight tyrant of his later years. Remember, he was still in his twenties when he first met Anne, and was thought the handsomest and most athletic prince of his age. Henry was characterized as a fair-complected giant of a man, with red-gold hair and light eyes. Branagh even resembles some of the paintings of Henry before he went to fat.
"Arise in thy beauty, thou star of my night" - "Kathleen Mavourneen
I agree with you about Catherine and Kenneth, but both are not the right age for the parts - Anne was 18 and Henry in his 20s when they met. I propose Christina Ricci as Anne and Ewan McGregor as Henry.
shareFYI Henry was in his 30's during this time period so you would want a more mature actor and younger actress for the parts. Though I love Jonathan Rhys Meyers and the Showtime series "The Tudors", the age gap does not quite match.
shareAs Henry, I would cast Russell Crowe. He is handsome, arrogant, great actor and he reminds me so much of Richard Burton anyway. As for Anne, Kate Winslet.
shareI think for anne they should cast someone the right age, Kate winslet, Laura Linney, and Catherine Zeta-Jones are too old, someone like audry tatou would be good. I think Keneth Branagh is a great choice for Henry
shareCatherine Zeta-Jones would be perfect; the real Anne Boleyn was 32 or 33 when she married Henry. My only doubt is that she might be too voluptuous; Anne was rather flat-chested. Branagh definitely has the right face for Henry but, at 5’9”, he's probably too short; Henry's skeleton was found to be 6'2", and one of his suits of armor was made for a man 6'4". Crowe is a very good second choice, but might be too young; Henry was 9-10 years older than Anne.
sharePaloma Baeza for Anne. She of Far from the Madding Crowd. She has the dark colouring and a coquettish demeanor. But I hope they never remake it, as the main reason I love it is because of the performance of Genevieve Bujold.
She lights up the screen.
Hmmm, it may sound weird, but I have always thought Colin Firth would make a great Henry VIII! Whoever said Kenneth Bragnah, very cool too. As for Anne, she is harder. I think Kate Winslet would be up to the task acting wise, but Eva Green has more of the look. Keira Knightly may be a good Anne too... It's a toughie... maybe they shold just cast me! Lol, it would be my dream part!
shareAnne: Cate Blanchett; hands down, in my opinion, the prime choice). King Henry: Rupert Graves. Queen Catherine (of Aragon): Genevieve Bujold (in much makeup, and photographed in soft focus). Wolsey: Ray Winstone.
shareBut I hope they never remake it, as the main reason I love it is because of the performance of Genevieve Bujold.
She lights up the screen.
All of those actresses are way too old. Anne was like 18 when she married King Henry.
I don't know who to pick, but Kate Winslet is too old, along with Catherine Zeta Jones... who would be great a few years ago, and Cate Blanchett looks wayyy too old. They should pick someone in their twenties to pass for the ages she is throughout the movie.
As far as looks go, Rachel Bilson I think would be the best choice, and haven't seen much acting from her besides The O.C., but she maybe able to pull off the part.
Anne was 32 when she married Henry.
shareReally? I heard she was 18. My bad then.
shareFor the role of Anne I'll go with Kate Winslet. For Henry, my pick goes to Russell Crowe. And as an add-on vote --- Keira Knightly as Jane Seymore.
shareAnne was not 32 when she married henry. recent factual evidence proves that she was 27 when she died, showing that her birthdate was about 1509. so a holywood movie got it right for once!
shareRe True to Your Heart
You're not mixing it up with Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, who was her cousin and was believed to be around 17 when she married him?
There doesn't seem to be a definative date for Anne's birth, anything from 1500 through to 1509 has been mentioned with either 1501 or 1507 as the likely candidates depending on which historian you read.
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Hi, True-to-your-heart. I'd be fascinated to know the source of your recent factual evidence.
If Anne had been born in 1509, she could not have been more than four years old in 1513, when she was accepted as one of the maids of honor to Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, an impossibly early age. Conversely, a birth date of 1500 or 01 would make her 12 or 13 years old at the time.
(Alison Weir; The Six Wives of Henry VIII; London 1991)
Most historians agree that she was born sometime between 1501-1507.
shareActually, any date after very early 1502 is, if not totally invalidated, at least complicated by the reasons I've noted above. And I've never read anyone who has seriously proposed any date but 1500-01 or 1506-07. I should be very interested where you can cite any historian who has suggested anything in-between. I'm always open to new interpretations of "accepted" history, that of the Tudors in particular.
shareI just meant that I've never heard of a historian who thought that she was born any time before 1501 or after 1507.
shareQuite so, Hugh, the above Weir citation give the primary sources for both dates, none of which date from Anne's lifetime. I'm still waithing for True-to-your-heart's recent factual evidence.
shareI was at Hever Castle a few months ago, and was speaking to one of the historians there who look after the castle. I asked her about Anne's birthdate, and she said that some documentation had been found that would indicate a 1507/1509 birthdate. It was in the account books for the castle, and the birth of a child called anne to the household. this is what i am going on.
shareHI, True-to-your-heart
First a quick warning to be careful about listening to guides. They're wonderful people and indispensable at historical sites, but usually volunteers and not bona-fide historians.
That said, here, in edited form is a quick rundown of the pros and cons of Anne’s birthdates:
“Until recently, it was accepted that that Anne Boleyn was born in 1507; this was the date noted by William Camden in the margin of his manuscript copy of his biography of Elizabeth I, printed in 1615; another late source, Henry Clifford’s Life of Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria, based on the reminiscences of one of Mary Tudor’s maids of honor as told to her secretary in old age, published in1645 also gives Anne’s date of birth as 1507, stating that ‘she was not 29 years of age when she was executed’. However, if Anne was born in 1507, she could not have been more than six years of age when she entered the services of Margaret of Austria in 1513, and impossibly early age. For a more realistic date we must turn to Lord Herbert of Churbury’s biography of Henry VIII, written during the early seventeenth century and based on many contemporary sources now lost to us. Herbert states that Anne was twenty when she returned from France in 1522; this would place her date of birth in 1501-02, and make her around eleven or twelve when she entered the Archduchess’s household. Two other late sources support an even earlier date of birth: Gregorio Leti’s suppressed life of Elizabeth I, which suggests a date of 1499-1500, and William Rastell’s biography of Sir Thomas More, both written in the late sixteenth century.” Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII,. London 1991.
“There is considerable uncertainty about the date of Anne’s birth, some authorities giving it as 1507, but there is a far greater probability in the statement which makes it 1501, the year in which Catherine [of Aragon] came to England.” Sarah Tytler, Tudor Queens and Princesses, London 1903, reprint 1993.
“Anne Boleyn's birth date is unknown; even the year is widely debated. General opinion now favors 1501 or 1502, though some historians persuasively argue for 1507. She was probably born at Blickling Hall in Norfolk.”
This last brings us to the other point: If Anne were born before 1507, she would have been born at Bickling Hall in Norfolk, not Hever Castle. “...prior to Sir William [Boleyn’s] death in 1505... Thomas Boleyn and his family lived at the manor house at Bickling in Norfolk. Anne’s chaplain, Mathew Parker, confirmed her birth here in later years…” Weir, op. cit.
Retha M. Warnicke, The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, Cambridge 1989, supports the 1507 date. But Eric W. Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, U.K. 2004, gives the 1501 hypothesis. And Ives is currently being hailed as the definitive biography.
I think 1509 can be definitely dismissed as a possibility. A child of barely three years old would have been highly unlikely indeed to be taken on as a maid of honor to Mary Tudor, Queen of France, as Anne was in 1512.
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there is a great deal of debate as to anne's birthdate, there is none as to henry's....he was born in 1491, which makes him 42 when he marries anne...so mardeabril dead wrong in sayings he was "in his 20's"...
my vote is with kenneth branagh....
also, henry suffered a fall from his horse during a tournament while married to anne. i've read historical accounts that it was this fall that cause the ulcer on his leg that he suffered from. his leg never healed properly giving over to the sore. which is when anne lost another baby (they told her the king was dead and she miscarried). which sent her star into rapid decent. if henry was so young, his body would have healed. also, anne was part of mary tudors ladies when she was married to king louis the XI (?). at that time she was mid to late teens. and don't forget she held henry off for 10 years. if she was 18 when she married him, it doesn't add up.
shareFYI, in England, bridesmaids are little girls. I was a bridesmaid in my cousins wedding at the age of 4. It would be possible for Anne to be a bridesmaid at that age too. I have always thought that she was 18 when she married Henry, but I admit that I have not done as much research as perhaps I should.
My vote: Kiera Knightly as Anne (it has to be someone with the ability to be coquettish, bold, angry, and yet like a little girl at the same time). I totally agree with Russell Crowe as Henry.
I doubt Henry would have married a 32 year old, especially considering that is past prime child-bearing years and that is what Henry was after from Anne.
She had to have been closer to 18 than 32, for sure.
And from all of the accounts I've read, Anne was sent away at a young age (while her older sister, Mary, was the king's mistress in her 20s). Why is that so hard to believe?
If Branagh's too short at 5'9', how did Richard Burton ever get the job at 5'6' or so? Height isn't everything.
shareI got an idea. If they ever remade this film, and I hope that they never do, Evan McEwan should play Henry the VIII and Emma Watson of "Harry Potter" fame should play doomed Anne Boleyn. Sam Riley could play Thomas Cromwell and Samantha Morton could play Queen Katherine of Aragon.
shareEmma Watson of "Harry Potter" fame should play doomed Anne Boleyn
Russell Crowe as Henry VIII
Shannen Doherty as Anne
Hehe - it amuses me that people always want to remake a stellar movie. Why fix what isn't broken, and then break it? ;D
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I'm interested in who would be cast as Catherine of Aragon.
In this movie, they cast a dark haired, unattractive, heavy dark-browed Irene Pappas. In reality, Catherine of Aragon was quite the opposite (fair, pretty and not a brunette) Hollywood just can't help itself. It loves casting the stereotypical dark Hispanic.
Irene Papas was Greek, not Hispanic.
"Truly, for some men, NOTHING IS WRITTEN unless they write it!" ~ Omar Sharif
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