Jodie Turner-Smith To Play Anne Boleyn In England’s Channel 5 Series

Deadline is reporting that British model and Queen & Slim actress Jodie Turner-Smith is to play Anne Boleyn in a convention-defying Channel 5 drama made by the Sony-backed Stan & Ollie producer Fable Pictures.

Deadline can reveal that the ViacomCBS-owned broadcaster has commissioned a three-part series that will examine the downfall of Boleyn through the prism of a psychological thriller rather than a stuffy period drama retreading the demise of King Henry VIII’s second wife.

Penned by newcomer Eve Hedderwick Turner, the drama shines a feminist light on the final months of Boleyn’s life, re-imagining her struggle with Tudor England’s patriarchal society, her desire to secure a future for her daughter, Elizabeth, and the brutal reality of her failure to provide Henry with a male heir.

Fable has assembled an eye-catching cast to star alongside Turner-Smith, who teamed with Daniel Kaluuya on racially-charged film Queen & Slim last year and has featured in TV shows including Jett and True Blood. Her co-stars include I May Destroy You’s breakout performer Paapa Essiedu. Amanda Burton (White House Farm), Thalissa Teixeira (Two Weeks To Live), Barry Ward (White Lines), and Jamael Westman (Hamilton) also feature.

Working titled Anne Boleyn, the series will be helmed by Deadwater Fell director Lynsey Miller. Fable founders Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell are the producers. Ward is no stranger to Boleyn’s story having produced the Natalie Portman/Scarlett Johansson feature The Other Boleyn Girl in 2008.