London-“Become ElizabethThe new Stars series about the little-painted teenage years of Elizabeth I of England, led by a rider on a horse carrying a fiery torch, rattles in the rainy dawn. Can stand. It was January 1547, and the carriage carries the body of Henry VIII. Shortly thereafter, you can see his legitimate children, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, getting up from bed and guided through the dark corridor.
“Why did you bring us all here? What are you going to do to us?” Asks the frightened Mary, the three elders. “Is this it?” Whispers 14-year-old Elizabeth.
These first minutes of darkness, chaos, and horror set the tone for the eight-part “Becoming Elizabeth,” written by British playwright Anya Reiss as a spectacular family drama. It’s more “Succession” than “The White Queen”. Henry’s death triggers a power struggle among the aristocrats who run the country in the name of the new King Edward 9 and vie for the use of Henry’s children as pawns in the survival game.
Elizabeth eventually took the throne and ruled for 45 years. She is known for “the great things she did, the terrible things she did,” said Justin Chadwick, who directed the first three episodes of the show. “But at this stage, she was still alive. She was a young, talented woman, suffering from everything she struggled with at the age of 14, and was thrown into these dangerous seas.” Wick’s visceral, claustrophobic visual style is created by shooting with a shoulder camera that closely tracks the actor, and rarely uses the wider, larger views that are more typical of historical drama.
Reese, who wrote the script at the age of 17 in the West End in 2010, clearly stated that he hadn’t seen the historical drama when he spoke to producer George Ormond about the “Become Elizabeth” project. “He said,’Then I’ll write the drama you’ll see,'” Reese recalled in a recent video interview. Then she said, Ormond told her about the period he wanted to dramatize. “I found the story completely wonderful,” Reiss said. “I was going” So what happened? No! For real? ‘I noticed that these events made her her her behind. “
The series focuses on Elizabeth as a teenager (German actress Alicia von Littberg), but also closely with her brothers, adults in her life, and changing loyalty between various power brokers. Followed by. And while men are in power, women’s negotiations with power-how to get it, how to use it, and how to maintain it-are at the forefront.
The most important of the women trying to take power is Henry VIII, who was first introduced while having enthusiastic sex with the new king’s uncle, handsome and charming Thomas Seymour (Tom Curren). My name is Catherine Parr (Jessica Raine), a widow. (His sister, Jane Seymour, was Henry’s third wife.)
Here, Catherine is not a loyal and knowledgeable figure in Tudor’s folklore, but instead is confident and politically sensitive. She is also the figure and role model of Elizabeth’s mother, a teenager who will live with her new husband, Solmare, who will marry Catherine and Catherine shortly after Henry’s death.
Catherine was “a wonderful woman, rhyming and one word,” said Rein, hinting at what the English schoolchildren had learned to remember Henry’s six wives. “Divorce, beheading, death, divorce, beheading, surviving.” Catherine’s impact on Elizabeth was enormous, Rain said. “She took care of her, she helped educate her,” she said, “but it’s vague and confused with manipulation and ambition. But it’s also Elizabeth. To work in a men’s court and teach them how to fly in the world. “
Catherine expects Edward (Oliver Zetterstrom) to be a regent and an effective ruler of the country because he is a child, but his role is to make himself a de facto ruler. Immediately robbed by Thomas’ brother Edward Seymour (John Heffernan) to install. The confrontation between the Solmare brothers and Thomas’ own power tactics further hampered Catherine’s plans, and his relationship with the shocking young Elizabeth was the final blow.
In a recent video interview, von Littberg said, “The princess, along the throne, then called bastard, has repeatedly pros and cons during her life. Her main goal is the queen. It’s not about becoming, it’s about staying alive. ” .. “She is trying to find her whereabouts in her courtroom, going back and forth between her brother and her sister, offending her and keeping her safe.” (Mary, played by Romola Garai, is an avid Catholic, and Edward is an avid Protestant.)
But Elizabeth is also a teenager, and von Littberg added that she rebelled against the decision made on her behalf and fell in love with the wrong man.
When Ormond, who produced the show with Reese, George Faber, and Lisa Osborne, first discovered that this part of Elizabeth’s life was well documented, but barely portrayed, the story was amazing. He said he surprised him to be modern. (The 1953 movie “Young Bess” is an exception.)
“Becoming Elizabeth” is “about teenagers and adults who feel they are in control, but they are not ready to work in the adult world,” Ormond said. “I feel that sexual politics is very modern and resonating.”
Karen said in a video interview that she tried to make Thomas as three-dimensional as possible. “Like Elizabeth fascinates him and falls in love with him, so does the audience.” He added: “It’s a story of a complex and abusive relationship — a powerful and attractive man who takes advantage of young women. The story can be black and white, but it’s darker. He really loves women and listens. They are leaning. They react to him and he uses his power. “
The show assumes a young Elizabeth’s political instinct-trained crucible relationship and its fallout. Historian Elizabeth Norton, who has a similar discussion in her book, “The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor” Edward’s six-year reign was largely overlooked in the description of Elizabeth’s life, he said in a telephone interview.
“We look back with wisdom, as if she were always a queen,” Norton said. “But at this point in her life, she doesn’t have much chance to take the throne,” she said. “Edward could get married and have children. Mary would probably do that too.” What she learned during this time was “Understanding how dangerous it is to disassemble and approach the throne. Seeing the dangers of marriage and losing your independence through Catherine Parr. “
Reese said he tried to avoid organizing the show around important political events.
“I’m more interested in people to show Elizabeth’s humanity and what the lack of power, security, and autonomy brings to you,” she said. She “decided to treat it as a family drama, a seijin-shiki drama, an emotional thriller. It was all but a historical show.”