Give that woman an Emmy! (Not Claire Foy)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Wolf Hall
Moss_Garden — 10 years ago(May 13, 2015 12:05 PM)
Claire Foy's performance was fine, though the way she was written isn't really how I picture Anne Boleyn nor indeed what I got from the novel. But for me, the standout performance was Jessica Raine as Lady Rochford. What a face! What a voice! What a performance! Her interview with Cromwell in the final episode was, as the kids say,
everything
.
As great as she was as the injured, injurious Jane Rochford, I rather wonder what this adaptation would have been like if she'd been cast as Anne instead. I think she could have brought more of that sly and sensual quality that I associate with Anne, as opposed to the cold intensity that Claire Foy brought. Does anyone know if she auditioned for Anne?
Formerly Nothin_but_the_Rain -
austendw — 10 years ago(May 13, 2015 02:07 PM)
But for me, the standout performance was Jessica Raine as Lady Rochford.
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As great as she was as the injured, injurious Jane Rochford, I rather wonder what this adaptation would have been like if she'd been cast as Anne instead. I think she could have brought more of that sly and sensual quality that I associate with Anne, as opposed to the cold intensity that Claire Foy brought.
I agree wholeheartedy. A couple of weeks ago I myself commented:
I don't think Clare Foy was right for the role. Now had Jessica Raine - who played Jane Rochford - swapped roles with Clare Foy, then I think we might have had something far, far more substantial on screen.
http://www.imdb.com/board/13556920/board/flat/242995992?d=243022509#243022509
Rayne is fantastic as Jane Rochford. Electric when she was on screen, she was who you looked at. And that unbalanced the whole thing- especially in the confrontation scene with Anne.
Call me Ishmael -
CatchyUserID — 10 years ago(May 13, 2015 03:20 PM)
Kudos to both of you. (Austen, I hadn't read your post because I've been watching on PBS and tried to avoid certain spoilers.) It hadn't occurred to me, but I absolutely see it. CF was ok, but JR could have been outstanding. She has a powerful presence, and could have pulled off the charm and coy seduction with more finesse.
BTW, isn't she the one who broke up Tom Goodman-Hill's marriage in real life? (He plays Mr. Grove on
Mr. Selfridge
.) Just curious. -
CatchyUserID — 10 years ago(May 13, 2015 03:39 PM)
Never mind, I just found this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2287661/Jessica-Raine-new-partner-Tom-Goodman-Hill-Dont-midwifeshes-married-man.html
Too funny, where it says, "and Jessica was playing a wild young temptress, as she often does. She even got topless on stage, and waggled her hotpants close to Toms face."
So yeah, I guess she could bring something extra to the role of Anne! -
thetuffpuff — 10 years ago(May 17, 2015 09:27 AM)
I could not AGREE MORE. Ms. Raine was definitely the stand out. Her performance never seemed forced, never over the top. It was subtle, sublime and simmering. She was The Business.
Great thinking point about what her portrayal of Anne would have been like. I think she would have done a far better job.
I hate saying negative things in post, but to me, Claire Foy's performance was the weakest link in this amazing production. But I will say that Ms. Foy's performance during the execution scene was redemptive. -
austendw — 10 years ago(May 18, 2015 11:25 PM)
But I will say that Ms. Foy's performance during the execution scene was redemptive.
I agree that in the last few scenes her performance hit the right note. Perhaps the actress understood and felt more for the character at her lowest point than she had for Anne earlier at her apogee.
Call me Ishmael -
austendw — 10 years ago(May 18, 2015 02:27 PM)
I'm curious what you got from her performance besides Jane's vindictiveness.
Well, I'll field that one.
For my part, I got a sense of someone with a strong presence, and a powerful, ruthless will, having the intelligence to form a strategy, with a shrewd awareness of precisely when and how to plunge in the knife, able to wield the power she possesses, entire aware her power - a political player. I'm not sure we saw many of these qualities in Anne Boleyn, but they are precisely what would have made her not only more historically accurate, but far more satisfying dramatically - a worthy match for Henry & Cromwell. I suspect (though it is entirely academic) that Jessica Raine would have given the role of Anne that added substance - and thereby significantly raise the dramatic tension between the three key characters.
I'm a curmudgeon, however, and for all that he's a fine actor, I'm not sure that Mark Rylance was ideally cast. I never got any real sense of danger from him - that he was a man who personally killed a man. I think that Rylance is too gentle, and for all that (as he himself said in a interview) he modelled his deadpan acting style on Robert Mitchum, he simply isn't butch enough to pull that off. Now Michael Kitchen (Detective Foyle) I could easily believe he was capable of any number of dark deeds. Fifteen years ago he'd have been perfect for the role.
Call me Ishmael -
rrb_1 — 10 years ago(May 18, 2015 07:11 PM)
For my part, I got a sense of someone with a strong presence, and a powerful, ruthless will, having the intelligence to form a strategy, with a shrewd awareness of precisely when and how to plunge in the knife
which all add up to: her vindictiveness. Thats pretty much it. What we dont get are other aspects of Jane we get more of a scheming caricature than a human being. Theres not much dimension here, and certainly nothing award-worthy. -
austendw — 10 years ago(May 18, 2015 11:12 PM)
What we dont get are other aspects of Jane we get more of a scheming caricature than a human being. Theres not much dimension here, and certainly nothing award-worthy.
Well, firstly, I'm not sure it is an award-worthy performance either, but I do find it more successful
in its own terms
than the less fully realised, sketchy Anne Boleyn.
But I certainly don't agree about caricature. Or rather, the character
as written
, doesn't give the the opportunity for an actor to do much else but display her as vindictiveness personified, but the actress embodies this with such conviction - that she comes alive,
become present
in a very compelling way. I felt an electric quality that made me sit up and watch when she was on screen, whereas Anne Boleyn felt rather neutral, inert, didn't command attention. So my feeling is that, had Raines played Anne, she'd have given us a more focussed,
capable
character, more of a match for both Henry and Cromwell, as compared to Foy's snappy but clueless Anne. We might also have got more chemistry between Anne and Henry.
But this is really a subjective thing, of course, all supposition and moonshine.
Call me Ishmael -
akameridians — 10 years ago(July 24, 2015 09:04 AM)
In addition, the physical appearance would be more appropriate. Anne Boleyn was by all accounts, dark-featured with a "sallow complexion" and dark eyes and also noted kindly as "not a beauty".
It was an interesting observation in the day, in that the king had such ardor for a woman who was considered very plain. -
ida96 — 10 years ago(October 12, 2015 06:55 PM)
I'm loving watching Wolf Hall having read Hilary Mantel's novels, which enhances the experience of seeing this drama immeasurably. The visual aspects are luscious. But my reason for replying is Mark Rylance. In the novels the story is Cromwell's, and the characters in this version are as Cromwell experiences them. I think Hilary Mantel conceives Cromwell as a hero of sorts, who's pragmatic, intelligent, patient, fearless, supremely capable, and very very subtle. To my way of thinking, Mark Rylance hits all the right notes in his portrayal.
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austendw — 10 years ago(October 14, 2015 10:10 AM)
I think that, for me, even Hilary Mantel's Cromwell is above all a
doer- a workaholic, a man of all trades, driven. I find Rylance too reflective, too cerebral, too much at ease to embody that. And for all his intelligence and subtlety, there is a darkness in the character Mantell wrote: sudden savage reactions to perceived danger, and a past killing., and - despite the one scene where he pulls a knife on someone - I don't really think he gives an impression of that edginess. He's a bit too nice.
The pace of the entire series reflects that relaxed approach too. I think it lacks drive for a lot of the time.
Call me Ishmael
- a workaholic, a man of all trades, driven. I find Rylance too reflective, too cerebral, too much at ease to embody that. And for all his intelligence and subtlety, there is a darkness in the character Mantell wrote: sudden savage reactions to perceived danger, and a past killing., and - despite the one scene where he pulls a knife on someone - I don't really think he gives an impression of that edginess. He's a bit too nice.
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the sphynx — 9 years ago(October 25, 2016 09:56 PM)
Oh, I don't know. That interrogation scene in the last episode, where he threatens to push his own fingers into the lordly prisoner's eyeballs, was quite effective. When he's interviewing Smeaton and has put him at his ease, even though you have to know what's coming, there's a jolt when he suddenly turns from genial to steely after having elicited the desired self-incrimination.
Mostly Rylance's Cromwell wends his way through the court like an iceberg with nine-tenths of his power hidden, content to be underestimated until he really needs to show strength. I think his performance is masterful. -
eyeguy72 — 10 years ago(June 17, 2015 07:37 AM)
Natalie's performance and beauty and crooked smile enraptured me the very first moment I saw her as Anne. I had never seen her before. I had no prior interest in British History. Now I'm hooked and it's all her fault!
Genevieve is undeniably gorgeous and she played the part well. And so did Claire Foy. I feel many people here have overlooked her performance as Anne. The subtle things she did with her expressions, especially her eyes. My hope is that people give this series a second viewing and change their minds.
That would make me happy.
"Here's to the losers" -
erudite925 — 10 years ago(June 17, 2015 08:08 AM)
Binge watched all 6 episodes of Wolf Hall last night. I have to say that Clare Foy's performance was subtle and intelligent. The play of emotions and the courage that shown through Foy's Anne Boleyn's execution scene was brilliantly heartbreaking. Anne Boleyn has been misrepresented in many British dramas. Historically, Boleyn it could be argued was as influential to the English Reformation as Martin Luther was to the German/European Reformation. I'm not saying she was entirely responsible, but I believe that the English reformation could have floundered without Boleyn's influence upon Henry VIII and her daughter Elizabeth. I'm not a historian but I am fascinated by Plantagenet and Tudor dynasties.
"Take your hands off my lobby boy!" -
KatharineFanatic — 10 years ago(May 21, 2015 08:06 PM)
If you like Jessica Raine, watch "Call the Midwife." She's in the first three seasons.
I'm less of a fan, and unsure that she could pull off Anne Boleyn, but then, it would be difficult to top Natalie Dormer, even if "The Tudors" was rubbish.