*“Queen & Slim” star Jodie Turner-Smith will play Queen Anne Boleyn in a three-part drama that will air on the ViacomCBS-backed U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 U.K.
Directed by Lynsey Miller and penned by Eve Hedderwick Turner, the psychological series will detail the final months of the life of King Henry VIII’s second wife, EW reports.
“I am so excited to join these exciting filmmakers in bringing the story of one of history’s most controversial queens to the screen,” said Turner-Smith in a statement, per Variety. “Delving deeper into Anne Boleyn’s immense strengths while examining her fatal weaknesses and vulnerabilities, Eve’s scripts immediately captured my imagination. In the hands of Lynsey Miller, the legend of this formidable queen and fierce mother will be seen as a deeply human story that is still so relevant for today. I look forward to bringing my heart and spirit into this daring retelling of the fall of this iconic woman.”
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“The drama will explore the final months of Anne Boleyn’s life from the eponymous queen’s perspective,” Channel 5 said in a statement. “The psychological drama follows her as she struggles to survive, to secure a future for her daughter, and to challenge the powerful patriarchy closing in around her.”
Fable founders Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell are the producers.
Ward and Farrell said: “We feel that history has side-lined the voice of this ambitious Queen in favor of the men who brought her down, and that Lynsey Miller’s beautiful, intimate vision will put Anne’s gaze at the heart of the piece.” Turner-Smith continued: “Delving deeper into Anne Boleyn’s immense strengths while examining her fatal weaknesses and vulnerabilities, Eve’s scripts immediately captured my imagination.”
Turner-Smith will be joined in the series by co-stars Amanda Burton (White House Farm), Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), Thalissa Teixeira (Trigonometry), Barry Ward (Des) and Jamael Westman (Animals).
Henry VIII split with the Catholic Church in 1533 to marry Anne Boleyn after divorcing Catherine of Aragon. The day after he had Anne beheaded, Henry married Jane Seymour.
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