Mark Rylance to head cast of Wolf Hall for BBC Two
Mark Rylance will star as Thomas Cromwell and BAFTA-winning director Peter Kosminsky will direct a major adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies for BBC Two and MASTERPIECE on PBS.
Published: 12 October 2013
I’m so pleased that BBC Two will be the home to the adaptation of two of the great books of the last 10 years and I’m delighted we have talent of the standing of Mark Rylance and Peter Kosminsky at the helm of the drama.”
The six-part serial will follow the meteoric rise of Cromwell in the Tudor court, from his lowly start as the son of a blacksmith to becoming King Henry VIII’s closest advisor.
Writer Peter Straughan, who adapted Jon Ronson’s The Men Who Stare At Goats and co-wrote the recent BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated adaptation of John Le Carre’s spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, will bring both the novels to screen.
Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two, says: “I’m so pleased that BBC Two will be the home to the adaptation of two of the great books of the last 10 years and I’m delighted we have talent of the standing of Mark Rylance and Peter Kosminsky at the helm of the drama.”
Ben Stephenson, Controller, Drama Commissioning, says: “I am excited to see this world-class team come together for the adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s phenomenal books, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. This collaboration demonstrates the ambition of BBC Two drama and once again takes the scale of our content up another notch.”
Hilary Mantel says: ““Peter Straughan’s scripts are a miracle of elegant compression, and I believe that with such a strong team the original material can only be enhanced.”
Peter Kosminsky says: "I am absolutely thrilled to have the chance to work with Peter Straughan and Company Pictures/Playground Entertainment on such an exciting, challenging and rewarding project for the BBC and MASTERPIECE on PBS. Peter's achievement in distilling almost 1000 pages of stunning prose into six taut, compelling episodes is extraordinary. It will be a joy to have the chance to work with Mark Rylance again as he brings to life one of recent fiction's most complex and compelling characters."
Filming will commence in Spring 2014 for transmission in 2015, with further cast still to be announced.
A landmark commission, Wolf Hall, continues BBC Two’s commitment to distinctive and ambitious original drama and MASTERPIECE’s goal to present on PBS the best of British drama for the American audience.
Last year Hilary Mantel became the first British author to win the Man Booker twice. Her gripping, brutal and compelling novels are international bestsellers and she has been credited with re-illuminating the Tudors and bringing the 16th century to life as never before. She is currently writing the last in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror And The Light.
Former artistic director of The Globe Theatre, Mark Rylance gained international acclaim for his Tony and Olivier award-winning stage performance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron in Jerusalem. This autumn he will star in the Globe’s all-male productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night on Broadway, as well as having directed Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones in the current production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Old Vic Theatre.
Wolf Hall will see acclaimed director Peter Kosminsky reunited with Mark Rylance, who he last directed in his BAFTA-winning drama The Government Inspector. As a writer/director, Peter Kosminsky’s work has spanned Hollywood films such as White Oleander to distinctive and ground-breaking television films such as Warriors, No Child Of Mine, Britz and most recently Channel 4’s The Promise. Peter was awarded the BAFTA Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Creative contribution to Television in 1999 and the RTS Fellowship in 2006. He is an elected board member of the British Film Institute
Polly Hill, BBC Head of Independent Drama, says: “We have assembled the most extraordinary, talented, award-winning team to produce Wolf Hall which is set to build on BBC Two’s reputation for world-class original British drama. I am thrilled that this project boasts the best in British talent both on and off screen with the most powerful combination of Mark Rylance, Peter Kosminksy and Peter Straughan adapting Hilary Mantel’s prize winning books.”
Colin Callender, Executive Producer, Playground Entertainment, says: “Hilary Mantel is a master storyteller and Playground is proud to be working with her and the remarkable award-winning team of Peter Straughan, Peter Kosminsky and Mark Rylance to bring these two great books to the screen. Ben Stephenson and Polly Hill at the BBC have been staunch advocates and supporters of the project since day one and we are delighted that MASTERPIECE and BBC Worldwide have now joined us as partners also.”
Martin Rakusen, Executive Producer, BBC Worldwide, says: "We are delighted to be working with such a distinguished creative team on this important and ambitious production, this is exactly the kind of stand out content, showcasing the very best of British talent, that BBC Worldwide seek to be involved with."
MASTERPIECE on PBS Executive Producer, Rebecca Eaton, says: “Only an enormously gifted actor like Mark Rylance could do justice to Hilary Mantel’s nuanced characterisation of Thomas Cromwell. I have no doubt that our PBS viewers will be dazzled by his performance in Wolf Hall.”
Beth Hoppe, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audiences Programming PBS, says: “PBS is thrilled to have Wolf Hall join the stellar line up of British dramas on MASTERPIECE and PBS that are so beloved by American audiences. This sweeping drama reinforces PBS’s commitment to be the leading destination for British drama in the US.”
John Yorke, Managing Director of Company Pictures, says: “It's a huge honour for Company Pictures to be able to adapt Hilary Mantel’s two novels – one that we knew we could only embark on with the best possible team. We are enormously excited to be at the start of what will be a great adventure.”
Mark Pybus, Producer, Company Pictures, says: “At Company Pictures we pride ourselves on bringing together the best of the UK's on and off screen talent to create outstanding drama but even by our standards the team at the heart of Wolf Hall is exceptional. Bringing Hilary Mantel's novels to screen was always going to be daunting but we believe this group has the creativity and skill to do it.”
Wolf Hall is a co-production of Company Pictures (Elizabeth I, Shameless, The Devil’s Whore, The Shadow Line) and Playground Entertainment (The White Queen, Dancing On The Edge, Dracula) – the US company helmed by Colin Callender – and MASTERPIECE for BBC Two in association BBC Worldwide.
Polly Hill, BBC Head of Independent Drama, will executive produce for BBC Two, Rebecca Eaton will executive produce for MASTERPIECE, Martin Rakusen and Ben Donald will executive produce for BBC Worldwide, Colin Callender will executive produce for Playground Entertainment, and John Yorke will executive produce for Company Pictures.
Press contact:
Chloe Dunbar, 07976 735337, chloe@chloedunbarpr.co.uk
