Julianne Moore To Lead In Period Drama Mary & George

Eight-part limited series Mary & George  created by DC Moore and based on the extraordinary true story of Mary Villiers is set to debut on  Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW and AMC, in 2023.

Academy Award and BAFTA-winning actor Julianne Moore (Still Alice, Far From Heaven) is to star in the new period drama. A deliciously dangerous eight-part limited series based on the true story of Mary Villiers (Moore), who moulded her beautiful son, George, to seduce King James I and become his all-powerful lover. Through outrageous scheming, the pair rose from humble beginnings to become the richest, most titled, and influential mother and son England had ever seen. The series is due to begin filming in early 2023 and debut later next year.

Julianne Moore commented, “Mary Villiers was a woman who through her own actions rose to become a powerful and influential figure in Jacobean London. It’s a daunting but exhilarating challenge to bring her to life on screen.”

Liza Marshall, Executive Producer for Hera Pictures said, “The incredible Julianne Moore is our dream casting for Mary – a woman who was damned by her contemporaries but was always the smartest person in the room. Indomitable women like Mary have too often been written out of history but with DC Moore’s brilliant scripts and Oliver Hermanus at the helm, we will reclaim her story to make a truly unique, unmissable show.”

DC Moore, Writer & Executive Producer said, “Since I first read about Mary Villiers’ life – and all she achieved with her son, George – I’ve been obsessed with bringing this story to the screen. Between King James’ often-overlooked love and lust for men, Mary’s extraordinary rise as a woman in a man’s world, and George’s (many, many) sexual and political conquests, this is a profoundly rich, and, as yet entirely untold on screen, story, about a pair of ‘commoners’ who conquered all before them.”

Mary & George is produced by Hera Pictures in association with Sky Studios and is written by acclaimed playwright DC Moore (Killing Eve, Temple), inspired by the non-fiction book “The King’s Assassin” by Benjamin Woolley. The lead director is Oliver Hermanus, award winning director of Moffie and Living, currently screening to critical acclaim at Sundance, Venice, Telluride, Toronto and London.

Mary & George is expected to air in 2023 on Sky in the UK, Ireland, DACH and Italy. AMC will air the show in the U.S, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.