Now you're making me wonder about screen Anne Boleyns and my own attitude towards them. Let's see: Dorothy Tutin I liked, especially in her trial scene, but while she was great as Anne in her final stage, young Anne getting to the top didn't come across as compelling, true. Though to be fair, at that stage she was a bit character in someone else's story, since that part was still in the Katherine of Aragon episode and the Anne Boleyn episode started at the beginning of her downfall already.
Genevieve Bujold: was very young when playing her and showed it. Not always in a bad way, since Anne in Maxwell Anderson's play starts out young, but it's noticeable throughout. All in all more Scarlett O'Hara in the Renaissance than Anne, I thought; a good performance as this, and no matter how fictional and implausible, I do enjoy watching that final scene between her and Henry.
Natalie Portmann: let's not speak of The Other Boleyn Girl. Not N. Portman's fault, but ugh.
Mind you, a not good source material actually produced my favourite screen Anne so far. Natalie Dormer in The Tudors, who is also an example of tireless actress lobbying paying off. The first season writing for Anne - and most other people - was dire, with a very few exceptions. The second season of The Tudors was still very soapy, but between seasons Dormer had done her lobbying to include more, gasp, actual history, re: Anne, and so it did, making most of Anne's scenes very compelling. She also is the only Anne so far to do her execution scene with the real Anne's actual death speech instead of a more modern sensibilities accomodating rewrite. If The Tudors weren't such a soap with only occasional bright spots I'd reccommend it, but anyway, Natalie Dormer. Has the charisma, the charm, the ruthlessness. Here are some of her scenes, including some of Anne Boleyn's most famous lines. (Such as "...a desire for apples" and "I have but a little neck".)
The Oliver & Thomas Cromwell connection: now that I had known about for some reason.
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Genevieve Bujold: was very young when playing her and showed it. Not always in a bad way, since Anne in Maxwell Anderson's play starts out young, but it's noticeable throughout. All in all more Scarlett O'Hara in the Renaissance than Anne, I thought; a good performance as this, and no matter how fictional and implausible, I do enjoy watching that final scene between her and Henry.
Natalie Portmann: let's not speak of The Other Boleyn Girl. Not N. Portman's fault, but ugh.
Mind you, a not good source material actually produced my favourite screen Anne so far. Natalie Dormer in The Tudors, who is also an example of tireless actress lobbying paying off. The first season writing for Anne - and most other people - was dire, with a very few exceptions. The second season of The Tudors was still very soapy, but between seasons Dormer had done her lobbying to include more, gasp, actual history, re: Anne, and so it did, making most of Anne's scenes very compelling. She also is the only Anne so far to do her execution scene with the real Anne's actual death speech instead of a more modern sensibilities accomodating rewrite. If The Tudors weren't such a soap with only occasional bright spots I'd reccommend it, but anyway, Natalie Dormer. Has the charisma, the charm, the ruthlessness. Here are some of her scenes, including some of Anne Boleyn's most famous lines. (Such as "...a desire for apples" and "I have but a little neck".)
The Oliver & Thomas Cromwell connection: now that I had known about for some reason.