Karen Gillan (Avengers Endgame) will play Mary Tudor in Fools, an upcoming period comedy about the monarch’s friendship with her female court jester. Patsy Ferran (Hot Milk) is the jester in the little-known historical tale. BAFTA- and Emmy-winning Guy Jenkin (Outnumbered) will direct from his own script.
Brenda Blethyn (Secrets & Lies) will also star, as will Jim Broadent (Moulin Rouge), who plays a scheming Cardinal.
The film is set in 1553. England’s first Queen, Mary I, takes the throne. The country is on the brink of chaos, and the ambitious Cardinal Pole plots to secure control. He has overlooked, however, a humble court jester. The pious, and apparently humorless queen finds relief in her brilliant slapstick routines and they strike up an unlikely friendship.
Cameras are set to roll later this year. Ryan Bennett of PaperEpic Productions will produce. Altitude Film Sales will handle international sales, starting at the European Film Market. It is co-repping North America with UTA.
“I am thrilled to be working with such a supremely talented core group of actors on Fools,” said Jenkin. “Together, we will tell the untold story of the strange friendship between England’s first Queen, and her female jester. Fools will turn the conventions of a historical film inside-out, and promises to be subversive, striking and very funny.”