Game Of Thrones might have dragons and ice-zombies served alongside its complex politics – but strip away the fantasy elements, and you’ll find that British history has similarly engrossing power-driven dramas. Just look at Mary, Queen Of Scots, Josie Rourke’s new film which delves into the fierce 16th Century rivalry of reigning monarch Elizabeth I, here played by Margot Robbie, and Scottish upstart Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) with her own claim to the throne. Empire has an exclusive new image, as seen in the Review of the Year issue, of Ronan as the titular Mary.
“In male stories, heroes gets proper antagonists,” Rourke tells Empire of the pair’s feud. “So Batman gets the Joker. Holmes gets Moriarty. And with those characters, when they’re well played, one is the other half of the other. So I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool, in order to power Mary’s story, we give her Elizabeth to motor the story?’”
Read more about Mary, Queen Of Scots in the December issue of Empire, on sale now in shops and online{
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