The Other Boleyn Girl

Eric Bana as King Henry VIII
Release Date: February 29, 2008
Directed by: Justin Chadwick
Written by: Philippa Gregory (novel) and Peter Morgan (screenplay)
Genre: Drama

Other Cast:
… Natalie Portman
… Scarlett Johansson
… Jim Sturgess
… Kristin Scott Thomas
… Mark Rylance
… David Morrissey

When rumours begin to circulate that King Henry VIII (Bana) is no longer intimate with his wife who has been unable to give him a male heir, Sir Thomas Boleyn concocts a plan to bring his family back to prominence: his daughter Anne (Portman) shall seduce the King and provide him with a son. However, the scheme goes off course when the King takes to the other Boleyn girl, Anne’s younger sister and best friend Mary (Johansson). Although married already, Mary gives in to family pressure and reluctantly provides the King with a boy, but along the way, she finds herself falling in love with the surprisingly tender monarch. Of course, this love affair is no obstacle for Anne whose hunger for the throne now overpowers her sisterly love, and she enacts a plan that eventually tears her family and her country apart while leading to her legendary demise.

From the Gallery:

Quotes from the Cast and Crew

Eric Bana on co-stars Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson
“Natalie was the first onboard, so when the project came to me I already knew that she was playing Anne. I was particularly excited because I’ve been a big fan of hers for a long time. She’s really incredible. Then Scarlett came onboard and it made so much sense that she’d been cast as Mary. With the two of them together it was just going to be incredible.”

Eric Bana on his character Henry VIII
“There was a kind of spoiled bratness to him, there was a real manlyness about him, there was a crazyness about him and there was an unpredictibility about him that I loved. And a real danger. I just loved all of it. It was an incredibly complex character and the story’s great.”

Eric Bana on his character’s love-life
“Eventhough he was completely obsessed with Anne, I think the love he had for Mary in our version is very real and it’s much gentler. Their relationship was much more believable in a lot of ways. I think the relationship with Anne borders on something else that’s not quite the same, or has the same humanness to it, as the relationship between Henry and Mary. I think it’s a different kind of beast.”

Eric Bana on director Justin Chadwick
“He’s always willing to try different things, which is always amusing to hear. He’s always opened to the actor’s ideas and very open to little changes with the script and with dialogue. He’s an open canvas which is fantastic.”

Scarlett Johansson on co-star Eric Bana
“I really loved working with Eric. He’s very funny actually, I didn’t expect him to be so funny. He always plays such serious characters so I didn’t realize he was a stand-up comedian before he started this crazy job being a dramatic actor.”

External Links:

• Internet Movie Database
Additional credits, plot summary, facts, quotes and more.

• Official Site
The movie’s official site.

• Official Site
The movie’s European official site.