Acting royalty meets regular royalty. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best and most riveting portrayals of monarchs on screen.
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00:00Treat me as you used to. Fragile I am not.
00:05Welcome to MissMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best and most riveting
00:09portrayals of monarchs on screen.
00:11A strong man acts within that which constrains him.
00:17What constrains me?
00:19Number 20. Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great.
00:22The Great. Better suited to cable than PBS, The Great takes a look at the marriage of
00:27Russian monarchs Peter III and Catherine the Great. It's more satire than history lesson.
00:32I could kill you. You are a bad person.
00:39See? I like you. You're funny. In a droll, despairing sort of way. I couldn't take a lot
00:44of it, but occasionally it's refreshing.
00:46Nicholas Holter is wickedly funny as the deviant Emperor Peter,
00:49but it's Elle Fanning's hilarious performance as Catherine that's worth the price of admission.
00:54The series follows Catherine as she plots to remove her husband from power via his death.
00:59Of course, they engage in several political and erotic power plays along the way.
01:03But as she continues to outmanoeuvre her husband,
01:06Catherine also seems to enjoy the twisted games they play.
01:09It's confusing, but incredibly entertaining.
01:11Who's got all the power? The one who made a mistake,
01:15and knows he will never stop paying, but is happy to pay.
01:19Or the one who was wronged, and has a stick to always beat the other one with.
01:25Make me forget.
01:2719. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Henry VIII, the Tudors
01:31This series may get knocked for its sexy reinterpretation of Henry VIII's reign,
01:36but in the capable hands of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers,
01:39the King's lustful appetites and quest for a male heir make total sense.
01:43Though he's not a great guy, there's a charisma to him that makes you understand
01:46his motivations and political manoeuvres.
01:49Have no heir. Only a daughter and a bastard son.
01:55You understand, Wonsey? The Tudor dynasty. Gone.
02:00All my father's work finished, and it's my fault!
02:04On The Tudors, Henry is still a young man, vibrant and spirited.
02:08It also makes him much more dangerous.
02:11He's just as likely to lead an army as he is to wrestle foreign heads of state
02:15and bed his advisor's daughters.
02:17I ask you only one thing.
02:21That you allow me to serve and worship you.
02:25As Lancelot served and worshipped Guinevere.
02:28Number 18. Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette
02:31Marie Antoinette.
02:33Sofia Coppola's 2006 retelling of the story of Marie Antoinette
02:38received mixed reviews from critics,
02:40but at least Kirsten Dunst's portrayal of the young, irreverent Queen
02:44was a fresh and memorable one.
02:46Madame, you have the alliance to consider.
02:49Letting everyone down would be my greatest unhappiness.
02:52Marie Antoinette gets a bad rap in popular culture, past and present,
02:57being shown as selfish, snobby, and disconnected from the French people.
03:01But Dunst manages to convey the monarch as a sympathetic character,
03:05a girl taken from her home at a young age and brought into a court where she knew no one,
03:10only to bear the brunt of the blame for the lack of a quickly produced heir.
03:14Dunst truly succeeds in humanising this often demonised historical figure.
03:20Are you admiring the Lime Avenue?
03:23I'm saying goodbye.
03:2717. Laurence Olivier as Richard III
03:30Richard III.
03:31Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this son of York.
03:40Although it didn't live up to initial expectations,
03:42especially compared to his previous Shakespeare adaptations,
03:46Laurence Olivier's work in Richard III is now considered some of his best.
03:50That's a pretty big statement.
03:52The legendary actor played several Shakespearean protagonists,
03:55but something about his ruthless Richard III still resonates.
03:59Olivier is nothing short of creepy as the rage-filled tyrant
04:03who gladly sacrificed his own relatives for the throne.
04:06But I am in so far in blood that sin will pluck on sin.
04:12Deer-falling pity dwells not in this eye.
04:16What's more unsettling?
04:18Is it his gleeful double-crosses or the direct addresses to the camera
04:22that let us in on his disturbed thoughts?
04:24It doesn't matter.
04:25Olivier's Richard is chilling.
04:28Can I do this and cannot get a crown?
04:35Cut where it's further off, I'll pluck it down.
04:3816. Genevieve Bujold as Anne Boleyn
04:42Anne of the Thousand Days.
04:44Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold earned an Oscar nomination
04:48for her starring portrayal of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's ill-fated second wife.
04:54The married king had already had an affair with her sister before he gets to Anne.
04:58But Bujold's headstrong queen goes toe-to-toe with the most powerful man in England,
05:02defying him at every turn.
05:04It's not safe for any of us to say no to our king.
05:07That put-on, kindly, hail-fellow well-met of yours.
05:11My father's house will be pulled down, and Northumberland's too, they tell me.
05:15Well, pull them down, your majesty, you are what I said.
05:19Even her family's pressure to become the king's new mistress isn't enough to goad her.
05:23Unfortunately, it only makes him want her more.
05:25While we all know how the story ends, with her in the parts,
05:28she actually managed to convince us that she might have the last laugh over the king.
05:33If some young man wrote this song for you, Anne, what would you say of it?
05:39I would ask him how his wife liked it, your grace.
05:46You shall dance to my tune, mistress.
05:4915. Judi Dench as Queen Victoria
05:52Mrs Brown
05:53The exact nature of Queen Victoria's relationship with her deceased husband's servant,
05:57John Brown, is unknown.
05:59However, Mrs Brown delves into what might have caused so much speculation.
06:03Without you, I cannot find the strength to be who I must be.
06:12Please.
06:13Dame Judi Dench deftly portrays the famed queen as she mourns her husband, Prince Albert,
06:19and forges a friendship with his manservant.
06:21Their tender friendship restores her, and brings her out of mourning.
06:25But the price is speculation at their expense.
06:28Sometimes, I feel Brown is all I have left of Albert.
06:36And now they attack Brown too.
06:39I will not give him up to them.
06:42Dench plays Victoria as a woman straining against convention and her own grief,
06:47and she won a BAFTA for her performance.
06:49Dench would later reprise the role in 2017's Victoria and Abdul.
06:53They couldn't bear me ringing dear John Brown here.
06:58I was happier here than anywhere in the entire world.
07:01Number 14.
07:02Judi Dench as Elizabeth I, Shakespeare in Love
07:06This Academy Award-winning role is short but memorable.
07:09Though she's not on screen for long,
07:10the entire plot of Shakespeare in Love hinges on Queen Elizabeth I.
07:15First, it's her bet that William Shakespeare can write a play
07:18showing the nature of love that sets much of the drama in motion.
07:22Nature and truth are the very enemies of play acting.
07:24I'll wager my fortune.
07:26I thought you were here because you had none.
07:29She appears again near the end to save Shakespeare and his fellow artists
07:33from being arrested for having a woman in their cast.
07:36Dench plays the Virgin Queen with the appropriate regalness,
07:39but also maintains a tongue-in-cheek humour about herself.
07:42Her playfulness leaps off the screen.
07:45It's no wonder she got an Oscar, a BAFTA,
07:47and the National Society of Film Critics Award for her efforts.
07:51Tell Master Shakespeare something more cheerful next time.
07:55For Twelfth Night?
07:56Number 13, Robert Shaw as Henry VIII, a man for all seasons.
08:00Based on the Tony-winning play of the same name,
08:03this drama sees the downfall of Thomas More,
08:06a one-time favourite of King Henry VIII.
08:08Robert Shaw was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Henry.
08:12He makes a meal of the Tudor king.
08:14What is it thought?
08:16Because I'm simple and plain and deal with every man straightforwardly.
08:20Because of that, I say, do they take me for a simpleton?
08:24There's no pretense of romance about this monarch.
08:27He is a power-hungry ruler through and through,
08:30a man who will stop at nothing to procure a male heir.
08:33Anyone who gets in his way will become fodder for the gallows.
08:37Prone to mood swings and anger,
08:38Shaw plays him as the wrathful and vengeful tyrant he was.
08:43See how you've maddened me?
08:46I hardly know myself.
08:47Number 12, Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria, the young Victoria.
08:51Female-led British royal period pieces often focus on one of the two Queen Elizabeths.
08:56But in this 2009 film, Emily Blunt shines as Queen Victoria.
09:01She ascended the throne in 1837 when she was only 18
09:04and went on to reign for over 63 years.
09:07The beginning of her rule was marred by disagreements among those around her
09:11as to how she should wield her influence.
09:13You're too young.
09:15You've no experience.
09:16You're like a china doll walking over a precipice.
09:19Well, then I must smash, for it's too late to mend my ways now.
09:22This power struggle forced Victoria to be strong-willed in the face of adversity
09:27and to assert herself in order to be with the man she loves.
09:30Emily Blunt manages to show the softer side of this famous queen,
09:34in addition to her better-documented, determined nature,
09:36delivering a remarkably nuanced performance.
09:39I am young, but I am willing to learn.
09:44And I mean to devote my life to the service of my country and my people.
09:50I look for your help in this.
09:52Number 11, Yul Brynner as King Mongkut of Siam, The King and I
09:57This musical production was released in 1956 to critical acclaim,
10:01receiving nominations for nine Academy Awards,
10:04with Yul Brynner taking home the statue for Best Actor for his portrayal.
10:08Do you not have any respect for me?
10:12Why do you stand over my head?
10:14I cannot stand all the time.
10:17And in this country, no one's head shall be higher than kings.
10:20You could say Brynner was used to playing the role,
10:22as he acted in the stage version of The King and I,
10:25giving the performance a total of 4,625 times.
10:30In modern times, the film probably would have received criticism
10:33for casting a white actor in the role of King of Siam.
10:37But it was the 50s,
10:39so this sort of whitewashing wasn't widely recognised as an issue yet.
10:43Retroactive criticism aside, this remains a notably powerful performance,
10:47even decades later.
10:49Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
10:55Number 10, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Cleopatra
10:58Elizabeth Taylor's portrayal of this Egyptian queen is so iconic
11:02that it remains a serious challenge for anyone else to attempt the role.
11:05Taylor's seductive performance has cemented the way Cleopatra is viewed today,
11:09and yet this movie had a famously disastrous production,
11:13including massive budgetary issues, illness, a high-profile affair,
11:17troubled shooting, and a changeover of various actors and the director.
11:21In fact, it nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox.
11:24The winds of destruction blow down upon thee.
11:28Storms and hail shall cut down wheat, shall cut down birds
11:32and living things of earth, the heavens and the gods themselves.
11:38At the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made,
11:41and despite being the highest-grossing film that year, it proved unprofitable.
11:45Although Taylor retrospectively called it her career low,
11:48to this day, for many people, she is Cleopatra.
11:52Isis herself would surrender her place in heaven to be as beautiful as you.
11:56You're not supposed to look at me. No one is.
12:00But if they aren't looking at me, they know that I am.
12:05You should be kneeling.
12:06Number nine, Kenneth Branagh as Henry V. Henry V.
12:11You may recognize him as the notoriously egotistical Professor Lockhart
12:15from the Harry Potter series, but before he headed to Hogwarts,
12:18Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in several movies based on famous Shakespeare plays.
12:23Canst thou love me?
12:30I cannot tell.
12:31Well, can any of your neighbors tell, Kate? I'll ask them.
12:34Arguably, his most memorable role was Henry V in the much-revered movie by the same name.
12:39The film was so critically lauded that it maintains a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
12:44Branagh's spirited delivery of King Henry's famous St. Crispin's Day speech to his troops
12:49was just one of his many scene-stealing moments, which earned him a well-deserved Oscar nod.
12:54We few, we happy few,
13:00we band of brothers, for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
13:06Number eight, Lawrence Olivier as Henry V. Henry V.
13:10Decades before Kenneth Branagh tackled the subject, the story was popularized by
13:14Lawrence Olivier, who similarly worked as both director and lead actor on the film.
13:18The game's afoot, follow your spirit, and upon this charge, cry God for Harry,
13:25England and St. George!
13:29Like Branagh, he was nominated for Best Actor. What he did take home, however,
13:33was a special honorary award for his work as actor, producer, and director
13:38in bringing this classic to the big screen.
13:48The film was released near the end of World War II and was requested by Winston Churchill
13:53as a morale booster for British troops. Roughly a decade later, he was again
13:57nominated for Best Actor for his rousing royal cinematic performance as Richard III,
14:03only to be beat out by Yul Brynner's aforementioned performance.
14:06Number seven, Kristen Stewart as Diana, Princess of Wales.
14:10Spencer. Even years after her tragic death, Princess Diana still remains the epitome of
14:15modern royalty in all its glamour and ugliness. Kristen Stewart received raves for her role
14:20as the People's Princess in this searing biopic.
14:24They're circling. It seems they're circling just me. Not you. Just me.
14:32Spencer takes place in the early 90s, when Diana and her husband, then Prince Charles,
14:37are on the rocks. It goes beyond the tabloid stories to get to the heart of what
14:41life in the royal family might really have been like for Diana.
14:45Stewart's performance highlights Diana's psychological horror as her marriage falls
14:49apart, and she is constrained by the pressures and thankless demands of royal life.
14:54Tell them I'm not well. Tell them I'm not at all well!
15:01Number six, Olivia Colman as Queen Anne, The Favourite.
15:04Not all historical fiction has to be stuffy and reverent. The Favourite is like a PBS
15:09miniseries projected through a funhouse mirror.
15:12Queen Anne is a troubled, disturbed, and petulant woman. Her various illnesses,
15:29moods, and neuroses rule her and everyone in her orbit. She uses and abuses people
15:34with reckless abandon, but she also used and abused herself.
15:42One just walks around with them and sometimes one can feel them filling with blood.
15:46Olivia Colman won an Oscar for the stunning layers she brought to the character,
15:50who could come off as a shrill and screeching monster if played differently.
15:55Instead, Colman finds humanity and humour in her quirks.
15:59You are enjoying all of this, aren't you?
16:02To be beloved, of course. To see you trying to win me by what is not to love, my dear.
16:08Number five, Catherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine.
16:11The Lion in Winter
16:13Peter O'Toole reprises his royal role from Beckett for this Christmas-set historical fiction drama.
16:18In The Lion in Winter, King Henry II is locked in a battle of succession with his three sons
16:24and their imprisoned mother. Catherine Hepburn is Henry's cunning and powerful queen consort.
16:29I have the documents and you will sign.
16:31How will you force me to? Threats? Sign or I refuse to feed you? Tears?
16:36Oh, sign before my heart goes crack.
16:40I'm like the earth, old man. There isn't any way around me.
16:43Everyone in this story is playing chess, but Eleanor is the best player of them all.
16:47Her spite, anger and heartbreak bring a distant historical character back to life.
16:52Hepburn plays the role with as much acid as she does heart, and won her third Oscar as a result.
16:58You put me here. You made me do mad things. You bled me.
17:02Shoulder it yourself. Don't put it on my back. Take it up and carry it. I can.
17:11Number 4. Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton as Elizabeth II, The Crown
17:16Queen Elizabeth II looms large over the last century of history.
17:20This beloved and acclaimed series took on the gargantuan task of making sense of her 70-year reign.
17:27Such a big project required three different actresses of stature,
17:30Claire Foy played Elizabeth in her early reign, Olivia Colman played her in her middle age,
17:35and Imelda Staunton finished the job, portraying the Queen in the latter half of her reign.
17:39Without their shared commitment to the role, the show would never have become a cultural landmark.
17:44All three were nominated for several awards, with Foy and Colman winning Emmy awards.
17:49But it's not as if the show was never meant to be a cultural landmark.
17:53It's a show that's been around for a long time, and it's a show that's never been a cultural landmark.
17:58with Foy and Colman winning Emmys for their portrayals.
18:02This system is a dreadful thing to inflict upon people.
18:06It's not natural. It's not fair. It's not kind. But you seem to thrive in it.
18:15Number 3. Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II, The Queen
18:19It seems like Helen Mirren was made to play this role. Honestly, she has an air of royalty about
18:24her even when she's not in costume. And she is a dame after all.
18:28You don't think that what affection people once had for this institution has been diminished?
18:36No. Not at all. You're more respected now than ever.
18:42This film shows a behind-the-scenes look at the royal family's reaction
18:46to Princess Diana's sudden death in 1997.
18:49It particularly focuses on Queen Elizabeth II's controversial view that since Diana and
18:55Charles were divorced, she should not receive a royal funeral, but rather a private affair.
19:01That's the way we do things in this country. Quietly. With dignity.
19:09It's what the rest of the world has always admired us for.
19:12Mirren swept the 2006 awards season, picking up an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA,
19:18and a Screen Actors Guild Award for this role.
19:21Number 2. Colin Firth as George VI, The King's Speech
19:25King George VI took to the throne at a tumultuous time in English history,
19:30a couple of years before the beginning of World War II. The great-grandson of Queen
19:34Victoria was not meant to inherit the throne as he had an older brother, Edward VIII.
19:39But when his brother abdicated the throne in order to marry a divorced
19:43socialite, George VI was a thrust into the spotlight.
19:46I'm a naval officer, that's all I know. I'm not a king.
19:54This film focuses on the King's Speech impediment and the therapy he went through to improve it.
19:59Firth won the major trifecta of acting awards for this role,
20:03including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a SAG Award.
20:07It was truly the performance of a lifetime.
20:09Listen to me!
20:10Listen to you? By what right?
20:11By divine right, if you must. I'm your king.
20:13No, you're not. You told me so yourself. You said you didn't want it.
20:16Why should I waste my time listening to you?
20:18Because I have a right to be here. I have a voice!
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20:36Number 1. Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I
20:40This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
20:47The daughter of infamous King Henry VIII and the ill-fated Anne Boleyn
20:51endured a difficult and tumultuous coming of age after her mother was executed.
20:55Queen Elizabeth took the throne when she was 25, not only consciously decided not to have children,
21:00but famously refused to marry, effectively putting an end to the Tudor dynasty.
21:05Observe, Lord Burleigh.
21:10I am married to England.
21:15Blanchett portrays Elizabeth as the complex character that she was,
21:19simultaneously naive, witty, defiant and shrewd, and earned an Oscar nomination for her work.
21:25Nearly a decade later, Blanchett reprised her role in a continuation of the monarch's story,
21:30Elizabeth the Golden Age, delivering yet another powerhouse performance.
21:35I too can command the wind, sir! I have a hurricane in me that will strip
21:39Spain bare if you dare to try me!
21:41Which royal portrayal captivated you? Let us know in the comments.
21:46What do you love so much?
21:48Your Majesty.
21:49Speak up, girl, I know who I am.
21:52Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms Mojo,
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