Oscar nominee Natalie Portman says she first approached the role of Anne Boleyn with research. Relying not only on the character as written in the novel but also on historical sources, she found that Anne was a woman both of her time and ahead of it. "Anne had a sense of self-respect that was uncommon for a woman of her time. She thought she deserved a status she was not born with, and this ultimately led to her demise," she says. "Marriage then was not about love; it was about uniting families to increase their power. Anne accepts this, but the unexpected thing is that Henry is charming, handsome and educated. She finds him an intellectual companion, and her way of attracting his attention is to challenge him."
As an only child, Natalie relied on her co-star for insight into sibling relationships. "Scarlett is one of four children. I felt like I had a co-conspirator -- she's a wonderful actor and a very playful person. Peter Morgan agreed that in every scene there were 20 things going on between the girls -- loving, fighting, feeling guilty, rivalry, but above all closeness."
Johansson also researched the period before playing the role. "It's interesting to read about life at the Tudor court," she says. "As the rest of the world was suffering, fighting religious wars and wars for land, the royal court was its own little world."
Still, Johansson's main research tool for background on her character was the novel. "Not much is known about Mary's life," she explains. "You can read different versions of how the affair with Henry came about and nothing is known about her personality. There were no articles written about her, no public interest in her. She was just another of the king's mistresses. So the best research material I had was Philippa Gregory's imagining of this person, and that was incredibly helpful to me.
"The Boleyn girls are written as two halves of the same person. I think that is always true of sisters of a similar age, even if they don't always want to admit it," Johansson says. "What Mary admires and is repulsed by in Anne are traits that she wishes she had herself. Similarly, Anne comes to realize at the end of the story that she wishes she had some of Mary's traits."
Johansson was also gratified by the opportunity to work with Portman. "This can be such a competitive business, and it is rare to have two such strong roles for women in one film," she says. "Natalie is kind and generous, personally and in her performance. She is inspiring to work with."
For Chadwick, one of the exciting prospects of The Other Boleyn Girl was the opportunity to show King Henry VIII as Anne and Mary see him -- powerful, charming, and sexy, so different from the way he usually appears, as an older man. "Philippa Gregory had written about Henry as the handsome and intelligent man he was before the madness set in," he says.
To portray the young king, Chadwick looked to Eric Bana. Bana has a well-established Hollywood career, but surprisingly, it was his background in improvisational comedy that appealed to the director. "Eric is a handsome movie star, but his improv experience allows him to show the warmth and humanity of this man who was king of England."
"My wife had read the book, as had many women I know, as I later discovered," Bana says. "I think women are so attracted to it because it shows two very strong sides of the female psyche: in modern terms, Anne is the professional, ambitious woman, while Mary wants love and family. I love Philippa's writing -- it is very vivid, full of tasty and unsavory characters.
"What appealed to me was the complexity of the man," Bana continues. "I felt that even when he behaved badly, there was logic to it that I could understand. By the end of the film we can see where he is headed -- he's becoming a spoiled brat, unpredictable and dangerous. In a sense, he's leading a double life -- he's one man in full view of the court, but behind closed doors, he is mesmerized by Anne."
Bana has high praise for Portman and Johansson, calling them "two freakishly great actors. They are two incredible wells of ability and emotional range. I was in awe watching them work. Having watched their careers progress, it seems bizarre that they are both so young. The sisterly relationship evolved so effortlessly."
Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas plays Mary and Anne's mother, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, who tries to protect her daughters while also ensuring their success in life. "The question of survival, for women, came down to marriage," she notes. "How `well' you married meant that you would have somewhere to live, somewhere to get food from. At the same time, in the film, she's a religious woman -- she wants the best for her daughters and fears to see them losing their way. She becomes a moral compass and stands in for the audience as the girls both get lost in the court."
"It's strange to describe the time, because the words we have are all modern. On the other hand, human beings haven't changed that much," she continues. "Obviously, behavior has changed, but feelings, emotions haven't changed at all."
David Morrissey plays the Duke of Norfolk, uncle to Anne and Mary Boleyn. A man who would be the power behind the throne, the Duke plots to raise his family's profile in the court by any means necessary.
Morrissey notes, "Not only does he put both Mary and Anne in the king's path, but -- and the film doesn't deal with this -- the Duke of Norfolk was also the uncle of Katharine Howard, Henry's fifth wife. He was an operator, ambitious, ruthless, shrewd, and quite unscrupulous, at least as far as his nieces were concerned. Although now it's outrageous for us to think of somebody who would treat his relatives this way, at the time, women were a currency."
Jim Sturgess, who plays George Boleyn, describes his character as "a loveable rogue, with an energetic, wide-eyed love for the court and everything it has to offer. He immerses and indulges himself, but he's also as ambitious as his father and his uncle. He understands that he has a role to play in this strategic game, even if he's just a pawn."
In addition to the chance to work with Portman and Johansson, Sturgess was intrigued by the film Chadwick intended to make. "He really wanted to get to the grit and reality of what life was like in the court -- showing the filth and madness that went on behind the gates," he says.
"George and Anne and Mary are definitely a group, those three," Sturgess says. "George is very much the mediator between the two girls. He has a very loving relationship with both of his sisters. I think he would side with Anne slightly more as she's the more mischievous of the two girls, but he loves both of his sisters dearly. In fact, his love and his loyalty for Anne is, in a way, what kills him in the end."
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