Masterpiece on PBS recently announced new casting for Wolf Hall, a six-part mini-series based on Hilary Mantel’s novel of intrigue in Henry VIII’s court. Damian Lewis (Homeland) will join the cast as Henry VIII and Mark Rylance will be playing Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s advisor. Claire Foy (Little Dorrit) will be Anne Boleyn and Joanne Whalley (The Borgias) will play Catherine of Aragon.
Wolf Hall follows Thomas Cromwell’s rise from a blacksmith’s son to one of the most powerful men in Tudor England. He spent his early years as a mercenary soldier in France, but returned to England to serve the king’s advisor. When the advisor botched Henry’s messy divorce from Catherine of Aragon, Cromwell rose to power by cleaning up the mess and leading the battle against the Catholic Church when the Pope opposed the divorce. Cromwell became the king’s right hand man and the de facto leader of the Church of England.
Masterpiece’s mini-series won’t arrive until 2015, but that’s more than enough time to get caught up on the books that inspired the show, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. I started reading Wolf Hall, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2009, when it was first released, but I couldn’t get into it. But the second book in the series, Bring Up the Bodies, caught my attention with its title and Anne Boleyn’s white face dominating the cover. It’s rare to be sucked in by the second book of a series, but Bring Up the Bodies hooked me hard.
Despite knowing Boleyn’s fate, I raced through the book. Cromwell himself is the narrator, and I viewed the court of Henry VIII through the eyes of a man I had never heard of before. Thomas opens the doors to many worlds, both noble and common. The novels follow him as he skirts between both, attempting to pacify everyone as he makes calculated decisions and negotiations to maintain and gain power. The book’s author, Hilary Mantel, possess the unusual gift of bringing to life a century long past. She straddles the Tudor era and ours perfectly, assisting her readers in understanding and comprehending a difficult past age.
Whether you read the books or wait till the show airs, Wolf Hall and its incredible Tudor world are worth checking out. Actor Mark Rylance’s endorsement of writer Peter Straughan (Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy) and director Peter Komisky (White Oleander) is a promising sign for what could be an incredible novel adaptation:
“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. I have to say, after my experience on The Government Inspector, I would gladly take part in any film that Peter Kosminsky makes. His ability to grasp complex political situations and bring them to life on film seems particularly suited for this material. 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.”
2015 can’t come soon enough. In the meantime, I’m off to read Wolf Hall and hang out with Cromwell once again.
Catherine Eaton is a contributor to The Stake. Catherine is a writer living in a western suburb of Chicago. She blogs over at sparrowpost.com and enjoys foraging around the neighborhood in her spare time.
