How ‘The Serpent Queen’ Crafts a Modern Take on a Historical Drama
11.09.2022 - 21:47
/ thewrap.com
Historical figure Catherine de Medici gets the period-drama-with-a-twist treatment in Starz’s “The Serpent Queen,” as the show finds a unique way to tell the story of the Italian-born French queen, who influenced the politics of her adopted nation for decades. Starring Samantha Morton as the grown-up queen, Catherine tells her story to a young woman employed in the kitchen at her court – Rahima (Sennia Nanua) – explaining to her (and the audience) how she’s survived, found agency and even thrived in a court initially unfriendly to a young Catherine (played by Liv Hill), and always dangerous. But while breaking the fourth wall, or at least turning and talking to camera, which often stands in for Rahima, may feel fresh for a television series, it is inspired by classic theater works.“Direct address, it’s been around since the ancient Greeks and Shakespeare, but it makes something incredibly urgent,” executive producer Justin Haythe told TheWrap.
“But you’re right about the contemporary style of the show. Because when I first read the book, I hadn’t been looking to do a period show, I hadn’t been looking to do a royal show.
But I wanted to do an antihero and in Catherine, I felt, I read and found a very modern antihero who happened to live in the 16th century, and happened to be a woman, and I couldn’t think of a female antihero that I’d seen before. And what made it so relatable to me is that she’s an outsider.
And that’s why she’s telling the story to Rahima, specifically … somebody else who thinks they’re an outsider.”When viewers meet the one-day queen, she’s hiding out in a nunnery, trying to – as an unpopular Medici, whose family power is waning – keep a low profile. But her uncle the pope (“Game of Thrones” alum
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