Ronan plays Mary Stuart, a widowed former queen of France, and Robbie stars as Elizabeth I in the film set in 16th-century Scotland.
- Dec 9, 2017
AceShowbiz - New official photos of "Mary, Queen of Scots" have made their way out online, highlighting the two clashing queens. Released via Entertainment Weekly, the photos show Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart, a widowed former queen of France, and Margot Robbie, who looks regal as Elizabeth I.
Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan rule in Mary, Queen of Scots first look photos https://t.co/4iIpC9oMqe
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) December 8, 2017
The film is set in 16th-century Scotland and is based on a biography by historian John Guy. It explores the rivalry between the Queen of Scots and the Virgin Queen. Crowned the queen of Scotland before she was a year old, Mary added to that pedigree when her first husband became France's king and she became queen consort in 1559. Despite that auspicious start, things didn't go well from there. She later married her first cousin, a bad match that ended with his murder.
When she quickly married the man suspected of orchestrating the killing, an uprising against the couple resulted in her imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. Forced to abdicate her throne to her one-year-old son, she failed in an attempt to wrest back the throne and fled for the protection of her cousin, England's Queen Elizabeth I.
Mary had previously claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics. Her arrival was perceived as a threat by Elizabeth.
"They were both, in their own ways, making huge sacrifices to try to operate in this male-dominated world," says Josie Rourke who directed the movie. "It's not one against the other. It's both of them against a particular environment that pitted them against each other."
Robbie adds, "Everyone manipulated their relationship. It's complicated, it's tragic, and it's bizarre. The only other person in the world who could understand the position they were in was each other."
Playing the smallpox-scarred monarch, the "Suicide Squad" actress also talks about feeling "inhuman" wearing layers of prosthetics and thick makeup to play the character. She says that the crew avoided her gaze. "It was nothing intentional," she recalls, "but I could see that it was uncomfortable for them, and the less they looked at me, the more isolated I felt."
Joe Alwyn, Guy Pearce, David Tennant and more also star in the historical drama, which is set to open in limited theaters in the U.S. on November 2, 2018.
