The Serpent Queen -Starz TV Series on Catherine de Medicis

[An Ard Ri]

I'm actually excited by this project as Starz have commissioned a TV series based on The Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14022350/

https://deadline.com/2021/08/the-se...n-starz-catherine-de-medici-drama-1234810150/

The series will follow Catherine's arrival in France ,marriage with Henri and rivalry with Diane and then Catherine's life after 1559 as the Regent of France and main power player at the French Court for the next 30 years.
Filming began in April 2021 on location in France with Samantha Morton cast in the lead role as Catherine de Medicis.

Other characters who will appear so far.

Louis de Bourbon
Antoinette de Guise
Antoine de Bourbon
Duke de Montmorency
Francois I
Henri II
Diane de Poitiers
Cardinal de Guise
Cardinal de Lorraine
Pope Clement VII
Queen Eleanor (Eleanor of Austria)
The Dauphin Francois
Mary Queen of Scots.

 

[Alison H]

I haven't got Starz, but the book was very good.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I haven't got Starz, but the book was very good.

It was an excellent book,now what happens with the series is another story

 

[An Ard Ri]

French actress Guillemette Buffet will play Catherine's French mother Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duchess of Urbino, Countess of Boulogne, dame de St Saturnin.

The duchess died on April 28th ,1519 only 2 weeks after giving birth of Catherine and was followed to the grave on May 4th by her husband Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The cast list has been updated

Samantha Morton as Catherine de Medicis
Charles Dance as Pope Clement
Alex Heath as Henri II
Ludivine Sagnier as Diane de Poitiers
Raza Jaffrey as François Guise,Duc de Guise
Nicholas Burns as Antoine de Bourbon,Duc de Vendome
Beth Goddard as Antoinette de Bourbon,Duchess de Guise
Enzo Cilenti as Master Ruggieri
Rebecca Gethings as Queen Eleanor
Colm Meaney as king Francois I
Louis Landau as Dauphin Francois
Guillemette Buffet as Madeleine de la Tour
Danny Kirrane as Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé
Barry Atsma as the Duc de Montmorency

 

[Sionevar]

That's a good cast list. Samantha Morton is a good casting choice - she has the acting chops for a role as complex as Catherine.

But I'm not quite sure what to make of Colm Meaney as Francis I. That's... interesting

And Charles Dance as Pope Clement? *chef's kiss* He's such a good baddie, and he adds class to everything he's in.

 

[Marengo]

Only two French actors, in a show that supposedly takes place in France. The Duke of Montmorency is played by a Dutch actor.

Is it known when the series will be broadcasted?

 

[An Ard Ri]

Only two French actors, in a show that supposedly takes place in France. The Duke of Montmorency is played by a Dutch actor.

Is it known when the series will be broadcasted?

Later this year or early 2023 and was filmed on location in France

 

[An Ard Ri]

Starz have released the Official Trailer of The Serpent Queen which premieres on September 11 on STARZ.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Serpent Queen is getting good reviews and much praise for Samantha Morton in the lead role.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...ly-cast-in-this-darkly-satirical-period-drama

 

[Sionevar]

Is anyone watching this show at the moment? I'm four episodes in, quite enjoying it, curious to know what everyone thinks.

It has a lot of factual errors, isn't trying very hard to be accurate to history, but I've decided to overlook that, as it's obviously not intended as a serious work. The humour is either very black or has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. The fourth wall breaks add an interesting dimension - it has the same vibes as the recent She-Hulk show. My husband wouldn't usually be interested in period drama stuff, but he has quite enjoyed watching this, just for the joy of all the back-stabbing, in-fighting, skull-duggery and shenanigans.

Absolutely not for anyone who likes their period drama accurate and authentic, but it's entertaining in its own way. And Samantha Morton is superb, as always...

One interesting thing - the choice to have all the Guise family members played by actors of Asian or Middle Eastern descent. A great way to bring some diversity into the cast, but I wonder if this was also a subtle nod to the fact the Duke of Guise ranked as a prince etranger at the French court...

 

[Toledo]

Is anyone watching this show at the moment? I'm four episodes in, quite enjoying it, curious to know what everyone thinks.

It has a lot of factual errors, isn't trying very hard to be accurate to history, but I've decided to overlook that, as it's obviously not intended as a serious work. The humour is either very black or has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. The fourth wall breaks add an interesting dimension - it has the same vibes as the recent She-Hulk show. My husband wouldn't usually be interested in period drama stuff, but he has quite enjoyed watching this, just for the joy of all the back-stabbing, in-fighting, skull-duggery and shenanigans.

Absolutely not for anyone who likes their period drama accurate and authentic, but it's entertaining in its own way. And Samantha Morton is superb, as always...

One interesting thing - the choice to have all the Guise family members played by actors of Asian or Middle Eastern descent. A great way to bring some diversity into the cast, but I wonder if this was also a subtle nod to the fact the Duke of Guise ranked as a prince etranger at the French court...

We are watching it and enjoy the dark humor every time she breaks the Fourth Wall, like She Hulk Attorney at Law, and talks to the viewers. That said...

My dislikes: I'll be controversial but frank on this: the subtle xenophobia from the production company and writers toward the French and Italians, especially personified by King Francis and Catherine de Medici and her staff. I'll explain, some tendencies of many a English language TV productions that ue historical drama to ridicule other monarchies when compared to the same historical timeline happening in then Tudor England.

The productions of anything Tudoresque presents the upper class dignified, regal, dropping it like a Shakespeare at times. They put emphasis on the idea of honor like a Jane Austen's character in a different timeline. This series that takes place in at the height of Renaissance Italy and France shown in a grotesque light and in one of the chapters they even referenced the French Revolution to happen. I wondered with not reference Oliver Cromwell's time, since it was closer to the Valois than the Bourbon's late XVIII century.

Case and point, two of the privy council members in the series, are constantly shown engulfing food at a table like pigs in a trough while taking bribes. And the catholic Pope and the Priest are a cartoon of corruption that reminds me our recently removed USA president and his circle of friends.

Now imagine these characters in the same setting but in a TV series about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria or Wiston Churchill. And throw in the execution by cannonball done under the British Raj for realism you never saw when the Raj Quartet was adapted for TV as the The Jewel in the Crown.

And were no French or Italian actors available in Los Angeles or the UK to play roles in here? Catherine Deneuve is still around.

Sorry for being controversial, but this is my reaction on looking at this series as a play is more in the lines of a parody than historical drama. Not to mention a production company and team of writers showing its subtle message of xenophobia toward other non Tudoresque royals.

 

[Mbruno]

My dislikes: I'll be controversial but frank on this: the subtle xenophobia from the production company and writers toward the French and Italians, especially personified by King Francis and Catherine de Medici and her staff. I'll explain, some tendencies of many a English language TV productions that ue historical drama to ridicule other monarchies when compared to the same historical timeline happening in then Tudor England.

The productions of anything Tudoresque presents the upper class dignified, regal, dropping it like a Shakespeare at times. They put emphasis on the idea of honor like a Jane Austen's character in a different timeline. This series that takes place in at the height of Renaissance Italy and France shown in a grotesque light and in one of the chapters they even referenced the French Revolution to happen. I wondered with not reference Oliver Cromwell's time, since it was closer to the Valois than the Bourbon's late XVIII century.

Case and point, two of the privy council members in the series, are constantly shown engulfing food at a table like pigs in a trough while taking bribes. And the catholic Pope and the Priest are a cartoon of corruption that reminds me our recently removed USA president and his circle of friends.

Now imagine these characters in the same setting but in a TV series about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria or Wiston Churchill. And throw in the execution by cannonball done under the British Raj for realism you never saw when the Raj Quartet was adapted for TV as the The Jewel in the Crown.

And were no French or Italian actors available in Los Angeles or the UK to play roles in here? Catherine Deneuve is still around.

Sorry for being controversial, but this is my reaction on looking at this series as a play is more in the lines of a parody than historical drama. Not to mention a production company and team of writers showing its subtle message of xenophobia toward other non Tudoresque royals.

That is actually curious considering that, in the Tudor era, England was already an important kingdom, but certainly not comparable in stature to France or Spain (or even Portugal), see for example this list of precedence observed by the Roman ceremonial in 1506 (before anyone complains, that was before the Reformation, so no preference attached to Catholic monarchs as opposed to Protestant ones).

 

[Prinsara]

We are watching it and enjoy the dark humor every time she breaks the Fourth Wall, like She Hulk Attorney at Law, and talks to the viewers. That said...

My dislikes: I'll be controversial but frank on this: the subtle xenophobia from the production company and writers toward the French and Italians, especially personified by King Francis and Catherine de Medici and her staff. I'll explain, some tendencies of many a English language TV productions that ue historical drama to ridicule other monarchies when compared to the same historical timeline happening in then Tudor England.

The productions of anything Tudoresque presents the upper class dignified, regal, dropping it like a Shakespeare at times. They put emphasis on the idea of honor like a Jane Austen's character in a different timeline. This series that takes place in at the height of Renaissance Italy and France shown in a grotesque light and in one of the chapters they even referenced the French Revolution to happen. I wondered with not reference Oliver Cromwell's time, since it was closer to the Valois than the Bourbon's late XVIII century.

Case and point, two of the privy council members in the series, are constantly shown engulfing food at a table like pigs in a trough while taking bribes. And the catholic Pope and the Priest are a cartoon of corruption that reminds me our recently removed USA president and his circle of friends.

Now imagine these characters in the same setting but in a TV series about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria or Wiston Churchill. And throw in the execution by cannonball done under the British Raj for realism you never saw when the Raj Quartet was adapted for TV as the The Jewel in the Crown.

And were no French or Italian actors available in Los Angeles or the UK to play roles in here? Catherine Deneuve is still around.

Sorry for being controversial, but this is my reaction on looking at this series as a play is more in the lines of a parody than historical drama. Not to mention a production company and team of writers showing its subtle message of xenophobia toward other non Tudoresque royals.

I'm not so sure about the grandeur and rarefied nature of Tudor times. Henry is most famous for killing his wives and advisors and waving a turkey leg around, after all.

 

[Mbruno]

I'm not so sure about the grandeur and rarefied nature of Tudor times. Henry is most famous for killing his wives and advisors and waving a turkey leg around, after all.

To be honest, the habits and hygiene of everybody in Europe in the 16th century would be considered appalling to anyone by modern standards. In fact, I suspect they looked appalling also to other non-European civilizations at the time, like the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Islamic world.

 

[Sister Morphine]

My dislikes: I'll be controversial but frank on this: the subtle xenophobia from the production company and writers toward the French and Italians, especially personified by King Francis and Catherine de Medici and her staff. I'll explain, some tendencies of many a English language TV productions that ue historical drama to ridicule other monarchies when compared to the same historical timeline happening in then Tudor England.

The productions of anything Tudoresque presents the upper class dignified, regal, dropping it like a Shakespeare at times. They put emphasis on the idea of honor like a Jane Austen's character in a different timeline. This series that takes place in at the height of Renaissance Italy and France shown in a grotesque light and in one of the chapters they even referenced the French Revolution to happen. I wondered with not reference Oliver Cromwell's time, since it was closer to the Valois than the Bourbon's late XVIII century.

Case and point, two of the privy council members in the series, are constantly shown engulfing food at a table like pigs in a trough while taking bribes. And the catholic Pope and the Priest are a cartoon of corruption that reminds me our recently removed USA president and his circle of friends.

Now imagine these characters in the same setting but in a TV series about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria or Wiston Churchill. And throw in the execution by cannonball done under the British Raj for realism you never saw when the Raj Quartet was adapted for TV as the The Jewel in the Crown.

And were no French or Italian actors available in Los Angeles or the UK to play roles in here? Catherine Deneuve is still around.

Sorry for being controversial, but this is my reaction on looking at this series as a play is more in the lines of a parody than historical drama. Not to mention a production company and team of writers showing its subtle message of xenophobia toward other non Tudoresque royals.

I think you're reading too much into it. The characters are portrayed the way they are to show how disreputable they are, not to humiliate or degrade the nationalities/ethnicities of the actors playing them.

As for the lack of French or Italian actors, it's not remotely uncommon for productions to feature actors from English-speaking countries. Saoirse Ronan playing Mary, Queen of Scots? She's Irish. Cate Blanchett playing Elizabeth I? She's Australian. Daniel Day-Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln? He's English. I'm sure a lot of American actors would have loved the opportunity to portray our 16th president, but after seeing Daniel Day-Lewis do it, I can't imagine anyone else in that role.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Samantha Morton is playing Catherine as full on vileness

Henri II jousting accident from which he later died and propelled Catherine into power as Queen Regent of France.

 

[Toledo]

I think you're reading too much into it. The characters are portrayed the way they are to show how disreputable they are, not to humiliate or degrade the nationalities/ethnicities of the actors playing them.

As for the lack of French or Italian actors, it's not remotely uncommon for productions to feature actors from English-speaking countries. Saoirse Ronan playing Mary, Queen of Scots? She's Irish. Cate Blanchett playing Elizabeth I? She's Australian. Daniel Day-Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln? He's English. I'm sure a lot of American actors would have loved the opportunity to portray our 16th president, but after seeing Daniel Day-Lewis do it, I can't imagine anyone else in that role.

There is xenophobia in some production companies that blatantly refuse to hire actors on historical roles from their very own countries. For example, in Selma Martin Luther King Jr and his wife Coretta King were played by British actors. Same with 12 Years a Slave and the movie Harriet. With all the movie, theater and TV actors in the USA, and not a single one available to play Martin Luther King Jr? It reminds me on the movie Gandi disregarding the great Bollywood actors that could have played that role. And way back in the 70s Bruce Lee was rejected for the lead in Kung Fu over actor David Carradine. It's a long trend that still happens to this day

The Serpent Queen series has a good script and acting if you consider it a parody of Catherine de Medici, but the xenophobia is not even subtle.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I wonder will there be a season 2?

The Serpent queen despite its flaws has proved a Autumn popular hit for Starz but has done the reputation of Queen Catherine no favours

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Serpent Queen has been Renewed for a second Season 2 by Starz

I'd imagine Season 2 will deal with Catherine as Queen Regent up until the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 or else 1561 to Catherine's death in 1589.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-serpent-queen-season-2-starz-1235415928/

 

[Sister Morphine]

There is xenophobia in some production companies that blatantly refuse to hire actors on historical roles from their very own countries. For example, in Selma Martin Luther King Jr and his wife Coretta King were played by British actors. Same with 12 Years a Slave and the movie Harriet. With all the movie, theater and TV actors in the USA, and not a single one available to play Martin Luther King Jr? It reminds me on the movie Gandi disregarding the great Bollywood actors that could have played that role. And way back in the 70s Bruce Lee was rejected for the lead in Kung Fu over actor David Carradine. It's a long trend that still happens to this day

That's not what xenophobia means. Xenophobia is a pathological hatred of people from a different ethnicity or country than your own. Casting two Black actors from Britain to play MLK and Coretta Scott King didn't show bigotry towards African-Americans. Should they have been played by Black American actors? I would tend to say yes, but that doesn't mean the director, producer, and casting agents responsible for hiring everyone were bigots. They chose who they felt were the best Black actors for those roles, irrespective of what country they came from. It wasn't an insult to the King family.

As far as Gandhi goes, a Bollywood actor isn't going to have the same global name recognition or appeal as someone like Ben Kingsley, and while he was born in the UK, he's Indian. His birth name is Krishna Pandit Bhanji. How can you complain about an Indian actor playing Mahatma Gandhi?

 

[An Ard Ri]

A Town and Country article on queen Catherine

"In a world where we talk about glass ceilings, she was somebody who broke a concrete ceiling, and she did it against all odds."


https://www.townandcountrymag.com/l...serpent-queen-catherine-de-medici-true-story/

 

[An Ard Ri]

Minnie Driver has been cast as Elizabeth I in Season 2 and Rosalie Craig joins as Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre.
Minnie Driver Among 10 Cast in ‘Serpent Queen’ Season 2 at Starz

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Serpent Queen has been axed after 2 Seasons .
To be honest it went way off tangent in Season 2 with Queen Elizabeth arriving at the French court and more or less lost the plot!
Jeanne d'Albret too going to London was another example.

 

[Elly C]

The Serpent Queen has been axed after 2 Seasons .
To be honest it went way off tangent in Season 2 with Queen Elizabeth arriving at the French court and more or less lost the plot!
Jeanne d'Albret too going to London was another example.

I hate it when they rewrite history to suit their purposes. Gosh, Catherine’s life was eventful enough without having to invent extra bits!

 

[Mirabel]

I hate it when they rewrite history to suit their purposes. Gosh, Catherine’s life was eventful enough without having to invent extra bits!

That always annoys me as well.
Or modern anachronisms in historical dramas.
Is it so hard to portray the social mores of a particular era?

 

[GondorHasNoPants]

I watched season 1, enjoyed it well enough for what it was, but decided not to come back for season 2. It was just too silly, and too lacking in historical accuracy. Plus, I hate the way these shows always try to cram in pointless, vulgar sex scenes just for the sake of it.