I’ve heard of it but somehow it fell off my radar. Not sure how as I’m a sucker for this kind of stories… AND Tom Hiddleston! Well, thanks to my good pal Terrence for sending me the trailer link via Twitter. What a pal he is… oh btw, don’t forget to vote on his weekly Time to Vote Tuesday. Great topic today, as always!
The Hollow Crown is a new adaptations of Shakespeare’s tetralogy of history plays comprising the ‘Henriad’ for the BBC’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad: King Richard II; King Henry IV, Part 1; King Henry IV, Part 2; King Henry V. The plays chronicle a continuous period in British history from the end of the 14th century to the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Together, the plays comprise a story with recurring themes of power struggles, redemption, family conflict and betrayal. (per IMDb)
I can’t friggin’ wait to see this! It’s no surprise that I LOVE all things British, including films about British monarchy, and man, I definitely would watch this for the cast!!
Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal/Henry V
Jeremy Irons as Henry IV
Ben Whishaw as Richard II
Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt
There are also notable British actors in the supporting roles: David Morrissey, John Hurt, Julie Walters, oh and James Purefoy as Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk.
Here’s the trailer:
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Now, for my UK friends, this is probably old news and perhaps you’ve even seen this on BBC Two. But it’s finally making its way to our shores. It will air on PBS’ Great Performances on Friday, September 20. But if you can’t wait THAT long, it will be released on iTunes, VOD, and DVD on August 27th.
Click on each image to see a larger version
Telegraph UK has some very nice things so say in its 4.5 stars review. I particularly like what it says about Hiddleston:
Hiddleston’s performance was a clever one. He is a cerebral actor and for that reason failed to convince in his early scenes (in Henry IV Part One) as a roister-doister. It was only when his heart was heavy, meditating on his destiny in a corpse-strewn foreign field, that you realised his quiet power.
The Guardian also says that “…The Hollow Crown feels as good as TV Shakespeare is going to get.”
So yeah, I’m so game for this!! I think I can handle 500 minutes of Shakespeare with THIS cast. I hope there’s a bunch of special features in this as well. I wouldn’t mind a whole video journal just on James Purefoy getting into costume and make up 😉
Well, I’m already sold on this one before I read that director Sam Mendes is one of the executive producer! Even from the trailer, this looks like an epic with lavish locations and astute details on the set pieces and costumes. This miniseries has won several awards, including BAFTAs for Best Leading Actor (Ben Whishaw) and Supporting Actor (Simon Russell Beale). It was also nominated in the music and costume design category.
The Shakespearean English might be a bit hard to follow for someone like me but I’m willing to give it a shot, especially with Hiddleston’s gorgeous voice reciting them, he’s an actor who’s born to play this type of roles! Plus, with the right technique, even this old language could have a contemporary feel.
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FlixChatter Film Blog 
Oh yeah I remember hearing about this in a newspaper but completely forgot about it 😀
What?? 😦 Well I hope you won’t forget again, Tim, lucky you that this has played in the UK last year.
Zero memory! 😀
Ahah, well you’ve got too much Predator in your head man 😀
You can never have too much Predator!
Ahah, well I beg to differ, but o-kay 😀
You would 😀
You had me at Tom Hiddleston.
Ahah, yeah this had me at Hiddleston as well. LOVE that guy!
Me too. So underrated. I’m a huge fan of Whishaw, too.
I sure hope neither one of those young Brits would be underrated for long. I know Hiddleston has a HUGE following, but once you see him in one interview you’ll absolutely understand why.
Yes, they deserve the attention! Tom Hiddleston is one of my favorite “new actors” and Ben Whishaw is immensely talented. His performance in Perfume is one of the best I’ve EVER seen.
I still haven’t seen Perfume yet but have heard great things about it. I do think he was good in Bright Star and Cloud Atlas.
Yep, he was one of the highlights of Cloud Atlas for me (Skyfall too). You should see Perfume! It’s something special and also directed by Atlas’s Tom Tykwer.
Man, I was wondering when we Americans would get this. (The UK got it a whole year ago!) Yes, I’m curious about seeing Hiddleston doing Shakespeare but also Whishaw.
It’s seriously warped that we only just about to get this here as it’s been playing a while ago in the UK! Hiddleston, Whishaw and the rest of the cast seems to be a natural for this series. We just need Cumberbatch and it’d be even more heavenly 😉
Oh, that would be divine.
I know!! And my personal favorite Timothy Dalton should also be there, those are ppl who are BORN to play Shakespearean roles.
Okay, I’ve penned it in my calendar. Hopefully, it will appear on PBS in Canada. Thanks for the heads up! The cast alone is worth watching this for!
Hi Brenda! I hope so too, can’t believe we have to wait SO long for this. Yeah the cast alone is fantastic.
Nice!!! Tom Hiddleston makes this for me. I’m so gay for him right now.
Ahahaha, well I hear ya… I think 😀 What I admire most about him is his sheer intellect and charming personality, he’s just so entertaining in interviews without being so self-absorbed like a lot of actors.
Can’t say that I’m interested in this show, not into period dramas. But that’s a good cast of actors.
No worries Ted, I didn’t think this is for you 🙂 I figure you’re as interested in this one as I am about violent or Ryan Gosling movies, ahah.
Glad you are excited for this. As soon as I saw it I thought about you. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of it before. Great spotlight on this. Some great reports on it have me interested. Plus it’s Patrick Stewart. Oh man. ha
Thanks for the cool spotlight and thanks for the great link love there, Ruth. Appreciate it.
THANK YOU again T! I love that when ppl see British stuff they think of moi, that confirms my Anglophile reputation 😀 😀 I know, I hope Patrick has some decent scenes but I do love Tom Hiddleston, he’s so fascinating in interviews too, I can watch him all day long!
My pleasure! I like this week’s topic, let’s hope there’ll be more Crichton’s adaptations.
I don’t need to know what it’s about, I’m sold on this for the cast alone!!
Right on Rodney! I think the series itself is pretty compelling too.
Loki & Professor X! I heard about this the other day on Flipboard.
I am not usually into stuff like this… but this seems very interesting, and I’ll check it out. I love epic continuous stories, so hope this will be just as good. Especially with the cast.
Loki & Professor X, glad someone mentioned that! I love British monarch adaptations and some Shakespeare, but the cast definitely had me hooked!
Sweet! Thanks for posting this. I was hoping we’d get to see this in the U.S.A soon. I’ll watch anything with Tom Hiddleston in it.
Yeah, about one more month to go 😀 LOVE Tom Hiddleston, he’s just so adorable!
These Great Performances showcases aren’t really my thing, but it’s Shakespeare and it has a lot of acclaim. I might give it a look. 🙂
I have the deepest respect and crush on Jeremy Irons for decades. He’s dreamy. I can’t wait to friggin’ see this, too!
He has one the most memorable voices too, love him! Yeah, I’m glad we don’t have to wait too much longer!
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