“Becoming Elizabeth”: the adolescence of Elizabeth Tudor, England's most iconic queen

Becoming Elizabeth is the fiction that will premiere on Sunday, June 12, the premium platform Starz Play. This is a drama about the Tudor family that will take as its starting point the unknown and fascinating story of Queen Elizabeth I's early years when she was just a teenager.

The life of young Elizabeth, played by the German Alicia Von Rittberg (Fury, Charité, Genius) was not at all peaceful or quiet: she was an orphan teenager who, without intending to, found herself involved in a network of power that included dangerous political games and lots of sex within the English court.

After the death of King Henry VIII, his son Edward, aged just 9, assumes the throne, who in the series will be played by Oliver Zetterström (The Midnight Gang, The Romanoffs). Her character, despite her youth, will be key to Elizabeth's coming to power. Eduardo, Isabel and their sister Maria (played by The Hour and The Miniaturist actress Romola Garai) will become the pawns of a chess game in which control of the country will be disputed, while the rest of England's powers and great families also make their moves.

Other key figures in this network of royalty power are, on the one hand, King Henry VIII's widow, Catherine Parr (played by Patrick Melrose actress Jessica Raine) and, on the other hand, Thomas Seymour, as actor Tom Cullen (Weekend, Black Mirror), the uncle of the new king who quickly marries Catherine. But he will also quickly become interested in the teenager Isabel.

Also added as the central character is the Duke of Somerset, played by John Heffernan (The Pursuit of Love, The Crown). The Duke will be the one to claim the position of Lord Protector for himself when the former King dies.

Forman también parte del elenco Jamie Blackley (Greed, The Last Kingdom), Alexandra Gilbreath (Tulip Fever, Provoked Wife, RSC), Jamie Parker (1917), Leo Bill (Animales fantásticos, In Fabric), Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, The Last of Us), Ekow Quartey (This Way Up, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe), Alex Macqueen (Sally4Ever, Peaky Blinders) y Olivier Huband (I Hate Suzie, A Discovery of Witches).

Becoming Elizabeth was written and created by television screenwriter Anya Reiss (Spur of the Moment, The Acid Test), who also took over executive production alongside George Ormond (National Treasure, Great Expectations.) George Faber (Shameless, The White Queen) and Lisa Osborne (Little Dorrit, Man in an Orange Shirt) are the producers of the series that hits the platform on Sunday, June 12.

The life of Elizabeth I was brought to the cinema in 1998. The queen was played on that occasion by Cate Blanchett, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance. The script was written by Michael Hirst, creator of the story told in the Vikings series.

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