Jodie Turner-Smith is seen as Anne Boleyn for first time in convention-busting Channel 5 drama
Jodie Turner-Smith plays Anne Boleyn in new drama that seeks to ‘shine a feminist light’ on story of Henry VIII’s executed wife and challenge conventions by casting a black actress in role
- Jodie Turner-Smith, 34, is playing Anne Boleyn in the new Channel 5 drama
- Also features Normal People’s Aoife Hinds and Paapa Essiedu, from Hamlet
- Turner-Smith looked to be in fine spirits laughing as she walked to film
Jodie Turner-Smith has been spotted as Anne Boleyn for the first time while filming a convention busting Channel 5 drama.
The actress, 34, was pictured wearing a coat atop a period costume while filming for the new series, which is set to give a feminist insight into Anne’s brief life as a England’s Queen Consort.
Turner-Smith, a black actress born in Britain, is portraying Anne, who is widely accepted as being white, in the new three-part psychological thriller.
The series seeks to challenge convention when it comes to Anne – a controversial figure in her time and still a much-talked about historical figure today.
Anne was the second wife of English King Henry VIII, whom he famously had beheaded. She is also one of the key causes of the English Reformation and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I.
It is the second time a BAME actor has played the role of Anne Boleyn on screen, after Merle Oberon, an Anglo-Indian actress who played the royal in Alexander Korda’s 1933 film The Private Life of Henry VIII.
Jodie Turner- Smith as been cast as Tudor queen Anne Boleyn in a new period drama
Turner-Smith, a black actress born in Britain, is portraying Anne Boleyn – who is widely accepted as being white – in the upcoming drama.
She has already earned praise for her roles in the likes of Queen And Slim, Jett and Nightflyers
Other members of the cast were seen filming the new show earlier today outside a church
White House Farm’s Amanda Burton was also seen in period dress for the historical show
Leading lady: Jodie Turner-Smith, 34, has landed the role of Queen Anne Boleyn in a new Channel 5 drama series (pictured in February)
Anne was the second wife of English King Henry VIII, whom he famously had beheaded
Alongside Turner-Smith, who has previously earned praise for her roles in the likes of Queen And Slim, Jett and Nightflyers, the series features Normal People’s Aoife Hinds and Hamlet star Paapa Essiedu.
White House Farm’s Amanda Burton and Des actor Barry Ward are also among the people taking part in the series.
Historian Dan Jones is serving as executive producer.
The mini-series, written by Eve Hedderwick Turner, is being produced by Fable Pictures (who created Stan & Ollie) and will air on Channel 5 in due course.
Turner-Smith described Queen Anne Boleyn as ‘formidable and fierce’ as she spoke about her decision to take on the role.
Anne, mother of Elizabeth I, was executed in 1536 at the Tower of London after falling out of favour with the Tudor king and losing a battle at court with enemies such as Thomas Cromwell.
Speaking about taking on the role, Jodie said: ‘Delving deeper into Anne Boleyn’s immense strengths while examining her fatal weaknesses and vulnerabilities, Eve’s scripts immediately captured my imagination.
‘The legend of this formidable queen and fierce mother will be seen as a deeply human story that is still so relevant for today,’ Turner-Smith said.
In a statement, Channel 5 said: ‘The drama will explore the final months of Anne Boleyn’s life from the eponymous queen’s perspective.
‘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.’
Henry VIII’s love for Anne changed the course of English history: he split with the Catholic Church in 1533 to marry her after divorcing Catherine of Aragon.
The day after Anne’s beheading, Henry married Jane Seymour.
News of Jodie’s new role comes after months after she welcomed her daughter, Janie, with Fringe actor husband Joshua Jackson, 42.
In the October issue of Vogue, the British model and actress confirmed child’s name for the first time in print, and reflected on what it’s been like to parent a newborn in the midst of the pandemic.
‘I had to learn how to breastfeed and how to be a mum—it really worked out for my baby,’ Turner-Smith said of the past few months during lockdown with her baby and husband.
The article reported that after giving birth in April, Jodie’s mother Hilda came to stay with them for three months amid the pandemic, and while protests began erupting around the world in the fight of social justice and racial equality.
The Queen & Slim star reflected that it was a ‘comfort’ to have both her mother and husband with her and the baby during that time, without the outside pressures of work and amid a time of change and upheaval.
A feminist insight: Jodie described Queen Anne Boleyn as ‘formidable and fierce’ as she spoke about her decision to take on the role
New mum: News of Jodie’s new role comes after five months after she welcomed her daughter, Janie, with Fringe actor husband Joshua Jackson, 42 (pictured November 2019)
‘It doesn’t make sense that we still have to be screaming to the world that our lives matter.
‘It doesn’t make sense that Black people are being senselessly mowed down by the police,’ Jodie said, expressing her feelings on the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘It doesn’t make sense, this country’s response to the global pandemic,’ she went on. ‘It doesn’t make sense that so many people are unemployed, and the government is bailing out corporations.
‘But what did make sense, inside of that, was the love of my family,’ she concluded.