According to Deadline, Sky and AMC have just cast Oscar-award winning actress Julianne Moore to helm their latest period drama piece, Mary & George. The series will revolve around the real-life historical figure of Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham, and her son Sir George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, who were both royal family favorites of King James I of England.
Mary & George will be an eight-part, limited series created by DC Moore, who served as a writer on the critically acclaimed BBC show Killing Eve, as well as the British medicine crime drama mini-series, Temple.
According to Deadline, this will be Moore’s second time leading a television drama since her small-screen debut with Apple’s 2021 miniseries, Lisey’s Story.
The show will follow Moore’s character, Mary Villiers, an impoverished peasant woman who grooms her desirable and charming young son to entice and ultimately seduce King James I into making their family his royal favorites. This rags to riches story will showcase how the Villiers family was able to rise from a penniless and pitiful clan into one of the wealthiest and most influential families in all of England.
Mary & George will be directed by Oliver Hermanus (Moffie, Living) and produced by Liza Marshall’s Hera Pictures in association with Sky Studios. The show is inspired by Benjamin Woolley’s nonfiction novel, The King’s Assassin. Sam Hoyle (Broadchurch, Doctor Who), Liza Marshall (Welcome to the Punch, Temple), Oliver Hermanus, and creator DC Moore will also serve as executive producers for the show. When asked about her role as the cunning countess, Moore responded that she felt intimidated by stepping into such a role, but that she was ultimately excited for the challenge of bringing a character like Mary Villiers to life on screen.
The show is set to begin filming in 2023 and will be released that same year on the Sky Channel in the UK, Ireland, Germany, and Italy.