In 2015, MASTERPIECE debuted what was soon to be a critically acclaimed series known as Wolf Hall, based on the Booker Prize winning work written by the late Hilary Mantel — and the rest, as they say, was history (just like the subject matter of the series, based on the life of King Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell!). So what has the talented cast been up to since the series aired nearly a decade ago? Before the premiere of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, with many of the original cast reprising their roles, learn all about where you may have seen some of the award-winning actors from the series since then.
Damian Lewis
What He’s Been In: After his gripping performance as the infamous King Henry VIII in Wolf Hall,Lewis went on to star in the award-winning Showtime seriesBillions for a whopping seven seasons, from 2016-2023. He also starred in the TV mini-series A Spy Among Friends in 2022 alongside Guy Pearce. On the silver screen, he also appeared in the award-winning Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywoodin 2019 as popular 1960s and 1970s American actor Steve McQueen.
Coming Up Next: In September 2024,Deadline announced that Lewis will be starring alongside Chris Messina (Sharp Objects, The Mindy Project) in the upcoming WWII dramaPressure. Messina will playU.S. meteorologist Irving P. Krick and Lewisas legendary British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. Andrew Scott (Fleabag, Sherlock), Brendan Fraser (The Mummy, The Whale) and Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin, Better Call Saul) will also star in the series.
Mark Rylance
What He’s Been In: In 2015 — the same year thatWolf Hall first premiered — Rylance starred alongside Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Philadelphia) inBridge of Spies, for which Rylance won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2016. The Wolf Hall star wowed in the film as a Soviet spy that an American lawyer (Hanks) defends in court. He also appeared in films such as Academy Award winning WWII drama Dunkirkand Spielberg’sThe BFG,based on the Roald Dahl story. In 2020, he appeared in The Trial of the Chicago 7 as William Kunstler, an American attorney and Civil Rights activist who defended the Chicago 7 in 1969 to 1970, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for the project.
Claire Foy
What She’s Been In:Since her iconic run as the ill-fated Anne Boleyn,Foy is perhaps best known for another royal role — as a young Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, starring in Seasons 1 and 2. Foy won a number of awards over the years for her iconic performance, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, multiple Screen Actors Guild Awards, and more. She also appeared in projects such as the 2023 All of Us Strangers (alongsideSherlock‘s Andrew Scott), and the TV miniseries A Very British Scandal in 2021.
Fun Fact:In 2019, Foy was awarded the third annual #SeeHer Award at the Critics’ Choice Awards for her portrayal of strong, complex female characters. “I accept this award as an encouragement to myself to be brave enough to face and see myself, and by doing, hopefully, I can understand and see others, and ultimately I can help others to see themselves,” Foy said when accepting the award.
Tom Holland
What He’s Been In:Since his role as Gregory Cromwell, son of King Henry VIII’s close advisor Thomas Cromwell (Rylance), Holland has launched to super stardom for his role as Peter Parker (A.K.A. Spider-Man) in the Marvel movie universe. His first appearance as Parker was in 2016 in Captain America: Civil War, and since then, six more Marvel films — and perhaps more to come — three of which he starred in (Spider-Man: Homecomingin 2017,Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, andSpider-Man: No Way Home in 2021).
Kate Phillips
What She’s Been In:Since her role inWolf Hall (which she will reprise inWolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light) as King Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, Phillips has been no stranger to our screens. Phillips played Linda Shelby, ex-wife of Arthur Shelby, in Peaky Blinders Seasons 3 to 6, as well as Venetia Scott, secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in Season 1 of The Crown. She also made an appearance in the Downton Abbey film in 2019 as Princess Mary, the daughter of King George V.
Look Familiar?:MASTERPIECE fans have also had the pleasure of seeing Phillips on their screens as Eliza Scarlet in Miss Scarlet (formerly known as Miss Scarlet and The Duke), Victorian London’s first female private detective and an indomitable force to be reckoned with when it comes to crime.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster
What He’s Been In:After his run as Rafe Sadler, ward of Thomas Cromwell (Rylance), actor Brodie-Sangster has appeared in a number of hits on screen. In 2020, Brodie-Sangster appeared in the Emmy, Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and more award-winning limited series The Queen’s Gambit, alongside star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Miniaturist). Brodie-Sangster also continued his role as Newt inThe Maze Runner films. Most recently, the actor starred in The Artful Dodger (2023), asequel to Dickens’ Oliver Twist, as Dr. Jack Dawkins, a former London pickpocket turned surgeon.
Fun Fact:In 2017, Brodie-Sangster reprised his iconic Love Actually role in a special TV short called Red Nose Day Actually, 13 years after the beloved holiday film premiered. Red Nose Day is a yearly fundraising campaign that raises money to help children and families around the world escape poverty. The campaign is run by Comic Relief US, a nonprofit organization.
Jonathan Pryce
What He’s Been In:Around the same time as his run as the infamous Catholic Cardinal Wolsey, almoner and confidant of King Henry XIII, Tony Award-winning veteran actor Pryce was also making waves as the High Sparrow in Game of Thrones.Since then, Pryce has appeared in a number of series and films includingThe Wife (2017), MASTERPIECE’sTo Walk Invisible The Brontë Sisters (2017), as Prince Phillip in the final two seasons ofThe Crown, and as yet another Cardinal in 2019’s The Two Popes(Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, later known as Pope Francis) in 2019 alongside Academy Award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) as Pope Benedict. Most recently, he’s been in the TV seriesSlow Horses, which first premiered in 2022.
More Familiar MASTERPIECE Faces
Recall a few more actors fromWolf Hall that have since popped up in other beloved MASTERPIECE series? You’d be right! Check out a few more actors from the series that you may have spotted elsewhere on Sunday nights over the years…
Mark Gatiss (Sherlock), who played Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester after Wolsey, in Wolf Hall,has appeared in a number of MASTERPIECE series just in 2024 alone, including in Nolly as real-life figure Larry Grayson, an inimitable entertainer who shared a close and enduring friendship with Noele “Nolly” Gordon played by Helena Bonham Carter. (Check out MASTERPIECE’s exclusive interview with Gatiss from his days starring in Nolly.) Currently, he is also stirring up intrigue on Moonflower Murders in dual roles — as murder victim Frank Parrishand as film producer Oscar Berlin.
Saskia Reeves,who played Cromwell’s sister-in-law Johane Williamson inWolf Hall, has appeared in a couple of MASTERPIECE series over the years, including Roadkill alongside Hugh Laurie (House, Blackadder) in 2020 and Us alongside Tom Hollander (Pride & Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean) also in 2020. Most recently, Reeves has appeared in the TV series Slow Horses, alongsideWolf Hall costar Jonathan Pryce.
Anton Lesser, who played Sir Thomas More (later Saint Thomas More in the Catholic Church), is best known known for his roles not only inGame of Thronesas the shifty Qyburn, but also (and most notably for MASTERPIECE fans!) as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright in all nine seasons ofEndeavour, which came to an end in 2023. But Anton isn’t the only Lesser you’ll see again in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light — Lesser’s child Lilit Lesser will also appear on-screen as Princess Mary.
