With Saoirse Ronan playing the title character and Margot Robbie set as Queen Elizabeth I, long-gestating historical drama Mary Queen Of Scots is finally gaining real traction. The latest cast addition for the movie is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk star Joe Alwyn.
The life of Mary is one of those endlessly re-examined stories: the tragic/hapless Scottish queen lived a life marred by death, high drama and international intrigue. As a baby she was engaged to the heir to the French throne, who she later married – but he died young and she returned to Scotland to be the centre of conspiracies both romantic and political. Cue failed marriages, disastrously bad decisions, possible murders, imprisonment and a serious falling out with her cousin Elizabeth I. Alwyn will be taking the role of Dudley, counsellor and lover to Elizabeth.
Josie Rourke is on to direct the latest iteration of the film, which has been caught in the development wringer for more than a decade. Originally scripted by Jimmy McGovern, it has attracted the likes of Scarlett Johansson and director Phillip Noyce, but Working Title and Focus Features have never quite got it all to gel (Ronan has been attached since 2012) until now.
Alwyn was last seen in The Sense Of An Ending and recently worked on another period piece, Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite.