Kate Phillips Talks BBC’s Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light

Offering Hope

The BBC’s adaptation of the second part of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light, starts soon and here’s one of its stars Kate Phillips, who plays Jane Seymour, talking about it…

Please tell us about Jane Seymour.

Jane is the third wife of Henry VIII. She was believed to be one of the lowest born of all of the queens, but she’s been a lady in waiting to Katherine of Aragon, and later to Anne Boleyn, so she’s been at Court for some time. Jane’s relationship with the King is I believe, at the beginning, something of real hope and happiness for him. It’s with Jane that he sees this new future. She’s seen as very chaste, very plain, and I think Henry finds that really attractive. And whether or not Jane herself has found a love match… I think that’s definitely called into question over the course of the series. At the beginning of The Mirror and the Light Jane marries Henry VIII, but only moments before that Anne Boleyn, the previous Queen, has had her head chopped off. So it doesn’t create an amazing precedent for queens going forward! What Hilary Mantel did so beautifully in the book, and what I think has been translated so brilliantly in the screenplay, is the unpicking of the stereotype of Jane, the stereotype of having no agency. But you see these moments where she’s very witty and I think those flashes of brilliant intelligence are really exciting.

What is Jane’s relationship with Cromwell?

I think they’re in love with each other. That’s the story that Peter, Mark and I have been discussing from rehearsals onwards – you see a glimpse of it in Wolf Hall and it’s definitely present in this series. He’s one of the very few people in her life that she can rely on, that she trusts and confides in. It’s a really important relationship in her life. I think there’s a huge amount of underlying pain that exists in lots of the scenes where I think they would, if they could, have been together – but the King gets in the way.

How was working with Damian and Mark?

It’s a joy to work with both Damian and Mark. Wolf Hall was my first job ten years ago, so I still remember walking on set and being greeted by Mark – the level of generosity and calm he offers when you’re on set together is unlike anything else. He has such a beautiful lightness of touch and I’ve been so lucky to share some wonderful moments with him as our characters have a level of emotional and intellectual intimacy. Damian is just fantastic. Unlike the first series where Jane was very much on the periphery, now she’s really allowed to be open about that level of intimacy that she would’ve had with the King which has been really fun to play with Damian.

And how was working with Peter Kosminsky again?

Well, ten years on, I still have no greater understanding of who Jane is. She’s a real enigma. She’s very shy, but at the same time in the script she’s described as “perhaps the cleverest in the room”. So trying to understand who she is at her heart has been really challenging, and working with Peter on that has been really exciting. He has a real wonderful instinct for who everyone’s character is and what their emotional journey is. He’s a brilliant leader, and I hope we’ve brought to life the level of complexity that I think the character deserves.

What is Jane’s relationship with Mary like?

Jane has a very strong relationship with Mary. I believe, after Jane died, Mary was the key mourner and that position would’ve only been held by her greatest confidante and her closest friend. You notice they’re both wearing the gable hood and I think their religious strength is something they share. I’ve really enjoyed sharing that relationship with Mary. A quiet trust between two women.

Please tell us about the costumes.

I think I forget what I look like sometimes – today I’m dressed as a sweetie and Damian is dressed as a Christmas decoration! The sun was shining through the window today, and it just hit both of us and I think everyone was blinded by the reflection of our clothes. I’m the Moon and he is the Sun. Jane wasn’t frightened of dressing or looking good and I think that goes against what people expect of her too.

What is it for you that makes Hilary Mantel’s writing so special?

Hilary had the skill of, with a lightness of touch, creating such vivid and complex characters and making you feel like you’re in the room with them. Having such wonderful laser focus with this one character, Thomas Cromwell, and so brilliantly drawing you into that world and what was going on in his mind, all the while doing it with such humour and never forgetting the drama.