"The Tudors" (2007-2010) - Showtime Drama Series on Henry VIII's Reign


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I think the biggest fault was that they didn't make Jonathan dye his hair red. If he had, he would have probably been the most accurate portrayal of Henry at his youngest and this was after all, about Harry as he was a young man, married to Katherine and as he went through his wives. The real problem is that he (Jonathan) was allowed to bascially decide how HE would portray Henry, without following the script and other stuff like looks.

I do agree here. Whilst Jonathan Rhys Meyers is one of my favourite actors, I always did wonder if he was the right person for the part. Possibly red hair and a fuller beard would have made him more convincing in this role. I am interested to see how he manages to portray Henry in his later years.
 
I do agree here. Whilst Jonathan Rhys Meyers is one of my favourite actors, I always did wonder if he was the right person for the part. Possibly red hair and a fuller beard would have made him more convincing in this role. I am interested to see how he manages to portray Henry in his later years.


Jonathan Rhys Meyers looked more like Henry's rival King Francis I of France.

I found this Tudor inspired video on the French Valois Dynasty.

Les Valois (v's Tudors)

Les Valois d'Angoulême (vs Tudor) - YouTube
 
King Francis on The Tudors was freakin hott! Wooo, definitely looked nothing like the real Francis. I think Jonathan's hair wasn't the main problem, it was his height and build. Richard Burton had dark hair when he played Henry in Anne of The Thousand Days and he was brilliant.
What did you guys think of the other actresses? Annabelle and Anita as Jane, Joss as Anne of Cleves...
 
Too many historical discrepancies in the series, many already mentioned here, but the one that really bothered me throughout was how a skinny, scrawny actor could portray the great Henry VIII. For crying out loud, the king had blazing red hair, was tall and well-built and became corpulent as he aged. JRM was too miscast to play Henry, although he is a good actor. And the actress who portrayed Anne of Cleves ugly? Excuse me, but she was totally miscast as well and too beautiful for the role as someone the king spurned in disgust over her looks. Any king would have been happy to have her warm him up at night, I'm sure.;) Obviously, this series played for ratings and to an audience unfamiliar, or uncaring, about the historical accuracy of the period and characters. The costumes were beautiful, though, and altogether the series reminded me of a 16th-century version of the American soap opera of the '80s, "Dynasty."
 
I think Joss was rightly cast, the portraits of the real Anne of Cleves make her seem like the most beautiful of the wives; even during her lifetime she was said to be by some to be more attractive than her successors. The reason Henry really didn't like her has often been speculated about.
 
I think Joss was rightly cast, the portraits of the real Anne of Cleves make her seem like the most beautiful of the wives; even during her lifetime she was said to be by some to be more attractive than her successors. The reason Henry really didn't like her has often been speculated about.
I think she was pretty enough to attract any man of her time,but she wasn't petite and slim,as Henry was very capricious,he just rejected her without any real reason behind it.
 
Hans Holbein reportedly made Anne of Cleves more attractive in her portrait that was sent to Henry during the marriage negotiations and Henry had said she had the face of a Flanders mare upon meeting her. Now there could have been more reasons for his rejection of her, such as inability to communicate since she couldn't speak English and he couldn't speak German. Also, upon first meeting, Henry came to Anne unexpectedly and unannounced and she didn't recognize him so didn't give him proper deference. Of course, Henry didn't like that at all. In addition, the style of German dress was considered to be unflattering and old-fashioned in the English court and Anne may not have been presented attractively in current court fashion which further offended him. And Henry definitely had a capricious and volatile nature. So, it may have been a series of unfortunate events that led to a hasty dissolution of the marriage, but at least this enabled Anne to keep her head and live actually a very happy life afterward as the "King's beloved sister."
 
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I am still in the Anne Boleyn section and now am very curious as to which biographies (or historical fiction) I might read to try and understand her turbulent, short life. Wikipedia lists so many potential lovers (who were arrested in connection with her treason accusations), which seems implausible. Is there really just that one contemporary portrait of her? There are such different contemporary accounts of her "beauty." I have always envisioned her to be beautiful (so I fell hook, line and sinker for the portrayal on The Tudors) but it seems she was not so pretty.

She had a large "wen" (cyst/pimple like thing) on her neck so she always wore high collared dresses? So says Wikipedia - but now I want to know the sources. I'm guessing I'll get help here (and I'll try to find the information on the other threads about history and books).
 
Oh, and on the issue of Henry's looks - well, I've decided that looks are not the main issue in trying to portray a historic character. It may have mattered how they looked when they were alive in terms of how others saw them, but I'm guessing few dared to tell Henry VIII that he was not attractive; I'm guessing he saw himself as attractive (just read his letters to Anne last night), and that others reflected that back to him. In order to capture that essential appeal of a monarch of the 16th century, a handsome actor (by today's standards) had to be cast.

It's true that physical strength would have enhanced the real Henry VIII's appeal as a king, and that is not portrayed by casting JRM (if I had cast him, I would have kept his arms covered up more, but again, in trying to appeal to young modern audiences and give him the appeal/allure that the real Henry VIII would have had for his subjects as he went progressing about, they needed to show his arms - as today's young women find that type of arm very attractive).

Our modern notions of power no longer center around the physical, muscular build of a man (William the Conqueror and Henry VIII seem to have been similar physical types, big and muscular - and ultimately overweight). I'm trying to think of a modern celebrity or actor that even falls into that category - weight has become such a big issue concerning attractiveness, certainly there were people in both William the Conqueror's and Henry VIII's time who thought they were too fat, so it wasn't exactly a non-issue back then, either). But, big muscular guys who get fat are usually former weightlifters or footballers, finding an actor today who has that somatype would be hard - and no one would have wanted to watch!
 
^^^Alison Weir is a very good biographer and has written about Anne Boleyn, so you might want to try "The Lady in the Tower." Also, she wrote "Henry VIII: the king and his court," so that might give you good background as you watch the series. Try also a relatively new book by G.W. Bernard, "Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions." There's so much reading material on her since she is such a well-known and tragic queen, Henry VIII's most famous wife.

Anne was not known as a great beauty since she went against convention of the day with her dark coloring and had a very narrow face, from what I've read. She was very exotic and extremely stylish and brought French fashion to the English court since she spent much of her youth as a maid of honor to the French queen. She spoke English with a French accent. She had sharp wit and intelligence, was very flirtatious and men were highly attracted to her. I had also read that she had a great deal of nervous energy and was very active. She supposedly wore pearl collars to hide the mole on her neck and long sleeves over her hands to hide what was reportedly a sixth finger or a small projection on her hand.

I hope the recommendations help you.
 
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Alison Weir is an awesome writer...and her sources are very detail oriented and legitimate. She definitely tries to sway away from the things that have been said about Anne that are somewhat inaccurate.

I also think that they could have continued the series with a look into Edward and Mary. As previously mentioned, I think Elizabeth has had her story told. The young actress who played Mary would have done an excellent job (or another more mature actress) showing how Mary grew increasingly conflicted and guilt over signing that document by Harry. As well as the relationships she had with her half siblings. She both loved them and feared/pittied them because of their belief in Protestantism.
 
Though The Other Boleyn Girl was not a great movie, I think Eric Bana as Henry VIII had more in common physically with the real Henry than JRM. He was tall and they dressed him in clothes that made him appear bigger and wider. Jonathan is just too short, lean and petite and most of the other guys in the cast towered over him. You can go to any library and pick up various books on Anne Boleyn, or The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
 
I totally agree Eric bana makes a better King Henry VIII and a cute young king;)
 
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I'm really glad I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" first before seeing the movie, because that would have probably put me off reading the book (though I've learned through experience a book is always better than the movie version). Anyway, Eric Bana made a more strapping and imposing Henry VIII than JRM, although the hair color again was somewhat of an issue for me. I guess this is because it was always touted that Elizabeth I was a chip off the old block, down to her blazing red hair which she inherited from her father.
 
I haven't seen the whole series yet, but I'm finding it distracting that Henry is portrayed pretty much as a madman. Maybe he is just acting like an absolute monarch and to our eyes that looks like madness? We aren't really accustomed to absolute rulers nowadays, except for Gadhafi and people like that.

Re Elizabeth's hair color, I had read long ago that she had dark hair like her mother and dyed it red with henna her whole life. Still, there is the portrait of Elizabeth as a quite young girl that shows her with red hair, so perhaps she did take after her father in this respect.

http://elizabethone.20m.com/images/elizabethi.jpg
 
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I don't think they portrayed Henry as a madman....just as he was...an absolute ruler who didn't have to answer to anyone. At least on this earth. Heaven only knows what happened to him in the after life.

You have no legitimate sons and Not happy with your first wife (you know she was your brother's widow didnt seem to be a problem when you married her but whatever!)....get rid of her...the replacement model is giving too much attitude and still no son...get rid of her...3rd wife dies...not happy with the fourth wife...get rid of her....fifth wife is immature and has the morals that you find lacking for a Queen (but you seem to possess the same morals but whatever)....get rid of her...Catherine Parr was certainly lucky that he died before her.

Not to mention all the men and women who died because they didn't bend to Henry's will or where in his way. Not a mad man just a monarch of his times. Surely if you look at his peers (and those before him in any country) except for the getting rid of the wives...they acted in the same manner.

So I would say that Henry acted as an absolute monarch.
 
Henry VIII was a product of his times, a remorseless, absolute despot - a perfect examplar of Machiavelli's "The Prince" which the king read and modeled certain behavior on. He certainly practiced Machiavelli's principle that it was better to be feared than loved.
 
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I agree - he was being Machiavellian and was quite excited, apparently, to get hold of the book. Everything I read about him says he was quite fond of reading (and writing and of composing music too). Here's an interesting article about him and his music (and Machiavelli):

Henry VIII and Machiavelli (and Music)
 
I saw a few episodes of the show on the internet when it first started, and wasn't impressed. I remember the first episode containing a murder scene (it opened with that scene actually), a really raunchy bedroom scene (with Henry and his mistress Bessy Blout (hopefully I got the spelling right), and then something else that I found to be a bit much. I also recall seeing that Henry had to go and meet the king of France at a summit. The terminology alone cracked me up; a summit? Of what, the G8? After that, and a few more raunchy bedroom scenes (including the one with Henry and Mary Boleyn), I was done. It was hard to take the show seriously, so I stopped watching.
 
Sometimes I think Hery VIII was deranged, sometimes I think he was just ill with syphilis. And yet he might be just like Baroness of Books described - "a product of his times, a remorseless, absolute despot". Remember Queen Christina of Sweden? Completely "crazy". I enjoyed watching The Tudors but I really hated the way they showed a Portuguese king that married Henry's sister (that did not happen in reality).
 
Yes, that was a wrenching scene and very eerie at the moment of execution. And it was historically accurate that the executioner distracted Anne so he could behead her without her being aware when it would happen. His philosophy was that it was more humane when it's unexpected. I also did not like what Henry did to the swans!
 
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I loved The Tudors, as whenever I watch or read anything historical fiction-y, I go and start researching (found a wonderful, well-researched biography of Henry that I'm about to start; am reading Hume's History of England, etc.) The show had a great deal of historical accuracy (and some major deviations from history too). In the main, it was close enough and very entertaining. The sets and costumes were amazing (I researched whether those pale jade columns in Henry's throne room were accurate - they were). I would have loved if the series showed a bit more of how all of this was accomplished, but the Field of Gold episode was amazing - and what an amazing historic event it was! I think they were very close in getting accurate to the details there (and the casting for François I was great, IMO).

I was a bit bothered by Henry's apparent agelessness (up until about the last episode), but that's inevitable in a TV series. And easy on the eyes, for sure (it has to appeal to the younger set for reasons other than history).
 
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Its a good show i mean sure its not historical accurate. But one thing i like is Sarah Bolger as the Lady Mary which is probably closer to the actual Mary than how she is often portrayed in movies or tv shows.
 
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