Harriet Walter and Timothy Spall have joined the cast of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.
As previously announced, Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Jonathan Pryce, Kate Phillips and Lilit Lesser will all return for the six-part series.
Based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel‘s multi award-winning trilogy, the historical drama directed by Peter Kosminsky and produced by Linda Osborne, has now began filming across England and Wales.
But some new faces will be joining the show for the first time with Killing Eve and Succession star Harriet Walter, 73, to play Lady Margaret Pole, while Harry Potter favourite Timothy Spall will take on the role as the Duke of Norfolk.
Reprising their roles will be Love Actually star Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler, Joss Porter as Richard Cromwell and Black Mirror actor James Larkin (Black Mirror, McMafia) as Master Treasurer Fitzwilliam.
Harriet Walter (pictured, left, in May) and Timothy Spall (pictured, right, in October) have joined the cast of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light
Based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy, the historical drama has now began filming (L-R Mark Rylance, Thomas Brodie Sangster and Joss Porter)
Argo star Richard Dillane as the Duke of Suffolk, Will Keen as Archbishop Cranmer, and Hannah Steele as Mary Shelton will round out the cast.
Adding volume to the stellar cast, joining the BBC Two’s historical show will be The Crown favourite Alex Jennings as Stephen Gardiner, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Bess Oughtred, Lydia Leonard (The Fifth Estate) as Lady Jane Rochford.
Rocketman star Charlie Rowe will play Gregory Cromwell, Harry Potter icon Harry Melling as Thomas Wriothesley, Corentin Fila as Christophe, and Tom Mothersdale (Bodies) as Richard Riche.
Reuniting the creative team from the BAFTA and Golden Globe winning first series, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will be directed by seven-time BAFTA award winner Peter Kosminsky – known for Channel 4 series The Undeclared War.
The period piece will be adapted for television by Academy award nominee Peter Straughan and produced by Colin Callender’s Playground and Company Pictures.
British director Peter, 67, said: ‘Casting director Robert Sterne has done a truly extraordinary job assembling the most stunning cast with which I’ve ever had the privilege to work.
‘Led by Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, they’ve been drawn by the quality of Hilary Mantel’s writing and Peter Straughan’s adroit adaptation.
‘Shooting in Tudor locations all over England and Wales, it is our privilege to bring Hilary’s last novel to an international television audience.’
Colin Callender, CEO of Playground, said: ‘Peter Kosminsky and our brilliant casting director Robert Sterne and his team have brought together a glorious cast with many of the original cast returning alongside some very exciting new faces.’
More actors to be featured on the upcoming show are also The Witcher star Viola Prettejohn as Mary Fitzroy, The Serpent’s Ellie de Lange as Jenneke, 1917 star Pip Carter, and Barbie actress Hannah Khalique-Brown as Dorothea.
Set in 1536 right after Anne Boleyn’s death, the historical series follows Thomas Cromwell emerging from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.
Yet Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, and no private army.
Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive.
But in the wake of Henry VIII having executed his queen, no one is safe.
Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future.
All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows.
Eagerly awaited and years in the making, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time.
The six-part series will air on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, while series one is available to watch on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on the PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel in the US.
The period piece will be adapted by Academy award nominee Peter Straughan and produced by Colin Callender’s Playground and Company Pictures (pictured Damian Lewis)
Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive
