Erin Doherty will play an enemy of the crown in her next screen role. The actress, who won acclaim for her turn as Princess Anne in Netflix‘s The Crown, will star as Protestant martyr Anne Askew, who was tortured at the Tower of London then burnt at the stake.
Psychological thriller Firebrand, which begins filming next month, will explore the fractious relationship between Henry VIII (being played by Jude Law) and his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander).
One of its key storylines involves Henry’s adviser Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester (Simon Russell Beale), and his ruthless investigation to uncover high-profile heretics, as part of a campaign to destroy Parr.
The actress, who won acclaim for her turn as Princess Anne in Netflix’s The Crown, will star as Protestant martyr Anne Askew, who was tortured at the Tower of London then burnt at the stake
Psychological thriller Firebrand, which begins filming next month, will explore the fractious relationship between Henry VIII (being played by Jude Law) and his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander). Pictured: Erin Doherty in The Crown
Gardiner ordered Askew to be taken to the Tower, hoping she would betray the queen. But Askew refused to give up names, despite enduring torture so barbaric even the Tower’s constable begged Henry to stop.
Michelle Williams was due to be Parr, but withdrew for personal reasons.
The screenplay, by Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth, is based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel Queen’s Gambit. But producer Gabrielle Tana changed the film’s title so it would not be confused with Netflix’s hit mini-series.
One of its key storylines involves Henry’s adviser Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester (Simon Russell Beale), and his ruthless investigation to uncover high-profile heretics, as part of a campaign to destroy Parr. Pictured: Alicia Vikander
Gardiner ordered Askew to be taken to the Tower, hoping she would betray the queen. But Askew refused to give up names, despite enduring torture so barbaric even the Tower’s constable begged Henry to stop. Pictured: Jude Law is playing Henry VIII
The screenplay, by Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth, is based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel Queen’s Gambit. But producer Gabrielle Tana changed the film’s title so it would not be confused with Netflix’s hit mini-series. Pictured: Simon Russell Beale will also star in Firebrand
Bonnie: Why I’m not fussed about fame-or facelifts
Despite it being her 50th year in showbusiness, Bonnie Langford is not making a song and dance over her new role.
The actress will appear in the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes when it tours the UK.
The show, which will also head to London’s Barbican for ten weeks from June 25 (three weeks earlier than originally intended), was a fun-filled tonic when it was revived last year.
Director Kathleen Marshall has cast Langford as the aristocratic Mrs Evangeline Harcourt, a comedic acting role (‘I think I sing about three lines,’ Langford said) which gives her the opportunity to show off her comic chops.
Despite it being her 50th year in showbusiness, Bonnie Langford is not making a song and dance over her new role
Other stars include Kerry Ellis as glamorous evangelist Reno Sweeney, with Denis Lawson and Simon Callow also joining the company. Ellis will be doing the show’s heavy lifting: singing and dancing Reno’s big numbers, with Marshall’s show-stopping choreography worth the price of admission alone.
Langford joked that she’s been kicking up her heels for, well, 51 years: ever since she made her first appearance on Opportunity Knocks — and half a century since making her stage debut as a child in a musical version of Gone With The Wind at the Drury Lane theatre in 1972.
She was better received by critics when she played Baby June, opposite Angela Lansbury, in Gypsy in London and on Broadway. ‘I was a sponge!’ she said, of watching and learning from Lansbury’s artistry.
She played many precocious young girls but told me she was ‘actually a very quiet child off stage’. ‘I was surrounded by my family, who are very grounded,’ she told me.
Other stars include Kerry Ellis as glamorous evangelist Reno Sweeney, with Denis Lawson and Simon Callow also joining the company. Pictured: Kerry Ellis and Samuel Edwards at rehearsals
The actress is a virtuoso all-rounder: as at home on the set of EastEnders as she is doing musical theatre. She has always found work, and told me she would never contemplate ‘having any work done to ‘improve’ my looks’.
‘I’m too frightened and scared to do anything like that! In any case, I like the experience of living — of laughter and tears — to show in my face.
‘I’m blessed with a certain joie de vivre. Those lines on my face tell a story.’
She puts the longevity of her career down to the fact ‘that I haven’t been doing it to become famous’.
She and the rest of the Anything Goes cast, which also includes the hilarious Carly Mercedes Dyer, Samuel Edwards, Nicole-Lily Baisden and Haydn Oakley, have been rehearsing near Regent’s Park
Part of the fun for Langford is that she’s reunited with Callow — who played Captain Hook to her Peter Pan at Richmond Theatre. ‘I’m a different gender this time,’ she observed, before we both decided to tiptoe away from that subject. Pictured: Kerry Ellis and Samuel Edwards in rehearsals
She said she worries that so many people now enter the profession wanting fame and blames some of that on shows such as Britain’s Got Talent.
‘They sell a lifestyle that, frankly, doesn’t exist.’
She and the rest of the Anything Goes cast, which also includes the hilarious Carly Mercedes Dyer, Samuel Edwards, Nicole-Lily Baisden and Haydn Oakley, have been rehearsing near Regent’s Park.
Langford’s maltipoo, Poppy, will accompany her on some legs of the tour that kicks off at the Bristol Hippodrome on April 11, ending June 18 at the Palace, Manchester. Pictured: Kerry Ellis and Samuel Edwards in rehearsals
Part of the fun for Langford is that she’s reunited with Callow — who played Captain Hook to her Peter Pan at Richmond Theatre. ‘I’m a different gender this time,’ she observed, before we both decided to tiptoe away from that subject.
Langford’s maltipoo, Poppy, will accompany her on some legs of the tour that kicks off at the Bristol Hippodrome on April 11, ending June 18 at the Palace, Manchester.
Her grande dame role as Mrs Harcourt calls for her to carry a pampered pooch on board a ship in Anything Goes. ‘I thought: this could be a part for Poppy!’ she said, laughing, because we both know that the canine on stage is a mechanical one!
Her grande dame role as Mrs Harcourt calls for her to carry a pampered pooch on board a ship in Anything Goes. ‘I thought: this could be a part for Poppy!’ she said, laughing, because we both know that the canine on stage is a mechanical one! Pictured: Kerry Ellis in rehearsals
Stars align for Old Friends
Cameron Mackintosh has lined up a host of stars to perform in Old Friends, at London’s Sondheim Theatre on May 3, to raise funds for the Stephen Sondheim Foundation.
Anna-Jane Casey, Julian Ovenden, Rob Brydon, Rosalie Craig, Janie Dee, Rob Houchen and Gary Wilmot will stand, side by side (metaphorically), with Michael Ball, Petula Clark, Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Hannah Waddingham and others.
Mackintosh said that there had been an avalanche of applications for tickets —enough to pack the Royal Albert Hall. But the show has been created for the intimacy of the Sondheim. ‘It wouldn’t be the same thing at the Albert Hall,’ he said. But he’s looking at ways of having a livestream fed into a second theatre.
Anna-Jane Casey (pictured), Julian Ovenden, Rob Brydon, Rosalie Craig, Janie Dee, Rob Houchen and Gary Wilmot will stand, side by side (metaphorically), with Michael Ball, Petula Clark, Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Hannah Waddingham and others
