Behind The Scenes On Anne Boleyn, Channel 5’s New Historical Drama

It would be easy to see Anne Boleyn as a powerless victim: the first queen ever to be executed after she failed to produce an heir for King Henry VIII.

But Channel 5’s Anne Boleyn is giving her centre stage and subverting the usual tropes of period drama to tell the story through Anne’s own eyes.

It stars Jodie Turner-Smith, who plays her as an intelligent and sophisticated queen, keen to get involved in the English reformation that Henry began after divorcing his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to marry Anne. She sat down with us on set.

Anne had this confidence,’ says Jodie. ‘This un-f***-with-able attitude. When we first see her she has a beautiful baby girl, she’s pregnant again, Henry is madly in love with her, and she’s riding on a high. She has political influence. The world is her oyster.’

Yet all Anne’s positive qualities begin to play against her after she loses her baby boy. Jane Seymour’s threat looms, and she persuades her cousin Madge to sleep with Henry: thinking ‘better the devil you know’.

Trigonometry actress Thalissa Teixeira, who plays Madge, says ‘sometimes in period dramas, women can be seen as secondary characters but here, they're sexually empowered and powerful. They’re not just pawns in the men's game. It’s vulgar but they are aware of their situation, and therein lies their power.’

Turner-Smith’s work ethic drew admiration for her co-stars including Lola Pettigrew, who plays Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife.

‘She’s just incredible,’ Lola says. ‘She was going off and feeding her baby and coming back and doing scenes. She's really inspiring. It’s no longer seen as “once you have a baby you can’t work any more”’

Jodie, meanwhile, pays tribute to Mark Stanley, the Whitehouse Farm actor who plays Henry in this new adaptation which puts the focus of the drama on the women in the King’s life.

‘He’s such a sweetheart,’ she says. ‘It says a lot about a leading man when they understand they are there to serve and elevate the woman’s story. It’s hard for a lot of male actors to want to slide into that but it’s so powerful when they do, and that’s what I loved about Mark.’

Thalissa agrees that the feminist gaze of Anne Boleyn is what sets this series apart from other period dramas. ‘At school I was taught Henry VIII was this don with all these women around,’ she says. ‘It’s kind of grotesque that we never saw it from the women’s point of view. These women were squashed by a patriarchal society but they were smart and clever and they played the game to the best of their abilities.’

Arise Queen Jodie. TV royalty is here…

How can I watch Anne Boleyn? When is Anne Boleyn on TV?

Anne Boleyn starts on the 1st June at 9pm on Channel 5

READ MORE: Who is Jodie Turner-Smith? Everything You Need To Know About Channel 5's Anne Boleyn

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