‘The Tudors’ Turns 15: Where’s the Cast Now?
A decade after scripting the Oscar-nominated 1998 film Elizabeth, screenwriter Michael Hirst turned his attention to another English monarch for the hit drama The Tudors.
Premiering on April 1, 2007, as Showtime’s biggest debut in three years, The Tudors dramatized the reign of King Henry VIII, retelling a historical saga of murder and intrigue with creative liberties aplenty. (“Showtime commissioned me to write an entertainment, a soap opera, and not history,” Hirst told The New York Times the following year. “And we wanted people to watch it.”)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers played that infamous king, and other familiar faces filled the Tudors cast, too, including Natalie Dormer, Sarah Bolger, and Henry Cavill. As the show hits its 15th anniversary, we’re checking in on the careers of 10 of its alums.
And these are just the longest-running cast members! The Tudors call sheet also included Jurassic Park’s Sam Neill, Nip/Tuck’s Joely Richardson, Downton Abbey’s Allen Leech, and Oscar winner Peter O’Toole, among many other stars of TV and film.
In any event, scroll down to see where you’ve seen 10 Tudors alum on screen recently.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers (King Henry VIII)
Henry Cavill (Charles Brandon)
These days, Cavill is best known as the title character in the Netflix fantasy series The Witcher and as Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman in Man of Steel, Justice League, and other films in the DC Extended Universe. Later this year, the actor will appear in the Apple TV+ spy movie Agrylle and the Netflix mystery film Enola Holmes 2.
Anthony Brophy (Ambassador Bishop Chapuys)
Like Meyers, Brophy also appeared on Vikings: He played King Svase in the series. More recently, he took on guest-starring roles on Coronation Street, Penance, and The Crown (in which he portrayed former CIA counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton).
James Frain (Thomas Cromwell)
Frain’s major TV credits in recent years include mayor-turned-villain Theo Galavan a.k.a. Azrael in the Fox superhero series Gotham, Vulcan ambassador Sarek in the Paramount+ sci-fi series Star Trek: Discovery, tech magnate Odin Reichenbach in the CBS procedural Elementary, and property developer Damian Campbell in the AMC+ legal drama Showtrial.
Sarah Bolger (Mary Tudor)
Bolger currently stars as Emily Galindo, wife of cartel leader Miguel (Danny Pino), in the FX crime drama Mayans M.C. She previously played Princess Aurora in the ABC fantasy Once Upon a Time and baron Jade in the AMC action series Into the Badlands.
Natalie Dormer (Anne Boleyn)
Dormer is likely known for playing Margaery Tyrell, onetime Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, in the HBO epic Game of Thrones. More recently, the actress led the cast of the Showtime dark fantasy Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, playing the shapeshifting demon Magda.
Max Brown (Edward Seymour)
Following The Tudors, Brown starred as case officer Dimitri Levendis in the BBC One spy drama Spooks, medical examiner Evan Marks in the CW fantasy procedural Beauty and the Beast, and King Robert Henstridge in the E! drama The Royals. Now you can catch the actor as Detective Inspector Sam Gillespie in the Britbox period crime drama Sister Boniface Mysteries.
Nick Dunning (Thomas Boleyn)
Dunning’s recent TV filmography includes roles as Cardinal Lupo Mercuri in the Starz historical fantasy Da Vinci’s Demons, barrister Conrad Rafferty in the RTÉ One legal drama Striking Out, and Superintendent Stirling in the Masterpiece mystery series Miss Scarlet and the Duke.
Rod Hallett (Richard Rich)
Following guest-starring roles in The Bastard Executioner, Legends, Genius, and MacGyver, Hallett stars in the newly released fifth season of the Netflix historical drama The Last Kingdom, playing King Constantin of Scotland.
Maria Doyle Kennedy (Queen Catherine of Aragon)
Kennedy has worked steadily since The Tudors ended, most notably playing foster mom Siobhan Sadler in the BBC America thriller Orphan Black. Since then, she played plantation owner Jocasta Cameron in the Starz historical drama Outlander and matriarch Bridget “Birdy” Goggins in the AMC+ crime drama Kin. Coming up, you’ll see her as columnist-turned-crimesolver Tannie Maria in the Acorn mystery series Recipes for Love and Murder.
