The Split's Anna Chancellor is heading back to the Tudor era for her new role as the formidable Lady Frances Grey – whose cunning is only matched by her cutting wit.

Advertisement

My Lady Jane, which is now available to watch on Prime Video, turns history on its head with a fictional spin on real-life events, depicting an alternate universe where Jane doesn't die just nine days after being crowned Queen of England.

In this take, after setting daughter Jane (Emily Bader) up with the elusive Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel), Lady Frances finds herself in the throes of passion after taking a much younger lover in the shape of Lord Stan Dudley (Henry Ashton).

Using her womanly wiles, Stan falls head over heels for the Lady, who uses her control over him to her advantage.

The storyline adds to a growing trend in Hollywood of women having a later-in-life sexual awakening thanks to a younger man.

Most notably, Nicole Kidman finding love with Zac Efron in Netflix's A Family Affair, and Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine having a May-December romance in The Idea Of You.

Read more:

And The Split star Chancellor is thriving at the chance to take on such a role, albeit with a notably less romantic twist.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Chancellor said: "It's kind of, in a way, funny, because the young guy is crazy about the older woman, and she can't quite be bothered with him, and she just wants to have sex with him.

"That's funny, right? Because you don't see it that much, but also maybe it is a hidden truth.

“Maybe there are more romances going on with much younger men and older women… Sometimes, I thought, maybe this happens more often than you know, and it's been kept a bit under the radar, and now consciousness is rising on many levels, and maybe this is one of them."

Henry Ashton as Lord Stan Dudley and Anna Chancellor as Lady Frances Grey, sitting next to one another at dinner, talking
Henry Ashton as Lord Stan Dudley and Anna Chancellor as Lady Frances Grey. Prime Video

Lady Frances is clearly a woman who gets what she wants, and in My Lady Jane, she finds herself doing whatever she can to hold on to power within the Royal court.

At the start of the series, this means marrying off her eldest daughter Jane to Lord Guildford Dudley, whose reputation for being a party-loving cad precedes him.

But for Anna, the tentative balance between love for her children and desire for standing in society are more closely tied together than one might think.

"You probably can't differentiate power and love, because without power, then your family could easily fall apart," she said.

"You could easily be, you know, things can go very dire. So you need the power to position yourself in order to almost remain functioning as a family.

"I think the period was asking, that time was asking, [and] forcing people into these quite extreme forms of behaviour."

My Lady Jane is available to stream now on Prime Video – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Plus, read our guides to the best Amazon Prime series and the best movies on Amazon Prime.

Advertisement

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Tilly PearceFreelance Writer

Tilly Pearce is a freelance TV journalist whose coverage ranges from reality shows like Love Is Blind to sci-fi shows like Fallout. She is an NCTJ Gold Standard accredited journalist, who has previously worked as Deputy TV Editor (maternity cover) at Digital Spy, and Deputy TV & Showbiz Editor at Daily Express US.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement