Jodie Turner-Smith, 34, revealed that she feels Meghan Markle could have modernized the royal family and stated that the monarchy is “limiting” and “archaic”.
The British actress who is the first black woman to play the role of Anne Boleyn in the new TV series said that she is not a “monarchist” and didn’t feel that the royal family was changing “quickly enough”.
“It was a terrible missed opportunity, the way in which it was not allowed to be something that really modernizes that institution, and to change it to something for the better,” Jodie told The Telegraph. “I think that’s why there’s dysfunction there.”
The actress also revealed that she “understood” the choice to cast her as Henry VIII’s wife was “polarizing”.
“It was an opportunity for me to bring my individual identity to this and distill it down to a human story, as opposed to a story that’s about whiteness or class,” the actress added.
“We have to look at things in a modern context,” Jodie said of the monarchy. “And only then we will recognize that certain things are archaic, and don’t really serve us as a community and are limiting us.”
“I think we should keep those things in stories and move on to something else in reality.”
When it was declared that she would be the first actress of color to play the character of King Henry VIII’s second wife, the criticism she received was “to be expected” because people are “attached” to the way Anne Boleyn looks.
The actress disclosed that she thinks Anne was “deeply feminist” and “ahead of her time” as she fought for women to have a voice in relation to politics and religion.
In the official full-length trailer for the Channel 5 series released on Friday, Jodie is seen trying and to prove her innocence after being charged with high treason but is still prepared to be beheaded.
It then shows her childbirth, and she is seen arguing with King Henry VIII, played by Mark Stanley, yelling “you promised me sons!”
Still, in the trailer video, it appears she was accused of treason as she is seen telling another character: “The world will know about my innocence.”
Anne was shown walking serenely in several locations before finally stepping up to the chopping block.
A character was also heard telling Anne: “Fear can be fuel, let your fear drive you to be bigger, louder, the sky itself will not limit you.”
The show will demonstrate the final months of Anne Boleyn’s life from the eponymous Queen’s perspective, as she strives to ensure a future for her daughter and to confront the influential patriarchy around her.
The series will air later this year. It is a three-part psychological thriller that will portray the moments that caused Anne to fall, unraveling her huge strength, her fatal weaknesses, and her determination to be equal among men.
Anne Boleyn is written by writer Eve Hedderwick Turner and directed by Lynsey Miller, and aims to “challenge all the conventions of who we think Anne Boleyn was and shines a feminist light on her story.”