Filming has begun on The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, the highly-anticipated follow-up to the BAFTA Award-winning Shakespeare miniseries, The Hollow Crown, and the final casts have been revealed.
Praised by critics and audiences alike on both sides of the pond, The Hollow Crown
For the concluding series of adaptations of Shakespeare’s History plays, Neal Street Productions has assembled additional members of Britain’s acting elite for the plays of The Bard’s first tetralogy — Henry VI (shown in two parts) and Richard III.
The cast for each film is as follows:
Henry VI, Part 1
- Sophie Okonedo (The Escape Artist) as Queen Margaret of France
- Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
- Sally Hawkins as Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester
- Tom Sturridge (Pirate Radio) as King Henry VI
- Adrian Dunbar (Line of Duty) as Richard Plantagenet
- Stuart McQuarrie (28 Days Later) as Vernon
- Lucy Robinson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) as Young Cecily
- Samuel West (Mr. Selfridge) as the Bishop of Winchester
- Stanley Townsend (Zen) as Earl of Warwick
- Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) as Mortimer
- Anton Lesser (Endeavour) as Duke of Exeter
- Ben Miles (Dracula) as Duke of Somerset
- Jason Watkins (Little Dorrit) as Earl of Suffolk
- Philip Glenister (Mad Dogs) as Lord Talbot
Henry VI, Part 2
- Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) as Richard III
- Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret of France
- Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty) as Queen Elizabeth
- Tom Sturridge as King Henry VI
- Adrian Dunbar as Richard Plantagenet
- Geoffrey Streatfeild (The Thick of It) as Edward IV
- Sam Troughton (Robin Hood) as George Bevis
- Stuart McQuarrie as Vernon
- Kyle Soller (Anna Karenina) as Clifford
- Lucy Robinson as Young Cecily
- Stanley Townsend as Earl of Warwick
- Anton Lesser as Duke of Exeter
- Ben Daniels (The Paradise) as Duke of Buckingham
- Ben Miles as Duke of Somerset
- Jason Watkins as Earl of Suffolk
- Phoebe Fox (The Musketeers) as Anne
- James Fleet (The Vicar of Dibley) as Lord Hastings
- Andrew Scott (Sherlock) as King Louis
Richard III
- Judi Dench (Philomena) as Cecily, Duchess of York
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III
- Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret of France
- Keeley Hawes as Queen Elizabeth
- Geoffrey Streatfeild as Edward IV
- Sam Troughton as George Bevis
- Ben Daniels as Duke of Buckingham
- James Fleet as Lord Hastings
- Phoebe Fox as Anne
Sam Mendes, Neal Street Productions Executive Producer, said, “After the critical and popular success of the first part of The Hollow Crown – and seven years after we very first suggested the idea to the BBC – I am delighted to announce the start of principal photography on the second half of this magnificent epic story. Yet again we have assembled an amazing cast – led by Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Hugh Bonneville, and Sophie Okenedo, amongst many others – under the direction of the hugely talented Dominic Cooke. I’m very excited indeed to see them all bring the rest of this astonishing story to life.”
Dominic Cooke, former Artistic Director of The Royal Court theatre, will make his TV directorial debut with the three films. Ben Power, Associate Director of The National Theatre, who previously wrote the screenplays for Richard II and Henry V, has adapted Henry VI and Richard III for the screen. Rupert Ryle-Hodges, who produced The Hollow Crown, returns as producer.
Commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, The Hollow Crown: The Wars Of The Roses is a Neal Street co-production with Carnival/NBCUniversal and Thirteen. Executive producers are Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, and Nicolas Brown for Neal Street Productions, David Horn for Thirteen, and Gareth Neame for Carnival Films/NBCUniversal.
The Hollow Crown: The Wars Of The Roses will air in the UK on BBC Two and in the US on PBS as part of its Great Performances series, produced by Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
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