Here's How the Cast of 'Mary & George' Compares to Their Real-Life Counterparts

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In Mary & George, mother-and-son duo Mary and George Villiers scheme their way into power, becoming favorites of King James I (also known as King James VI in Scotland), and the majority of characters in the show—which is adapted from Benjamin Woolley's book The King's Assassin: The Secret Plot to Murder James I—are based on real-life historical figures.

"With any drama, there is obviously a poetic license that's taken, and there's some characters in the show that maybe didn't exist, but there was certainly plenty that did," Tony Curran, who plays King James, tells T&C. "Mary, George Villiers, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Anne, King James, Robert Carr, all those characters. A lot of the story that we've put on screen is factual, as close to the truth as it was at that time, but of course, there's elements that are dramatized in many ways."

Here, see how the cast of Mary & George compares to their real-life counterparts:

Julianne Moore as Mary Villiers

The Oscar-winning actress stars as Mary Villiers, who schemes for power. "The most compelling thing to me about Mary was that she was very aware of how limited her choices were. She had no autonomy, her only paths are through the men she is married to, or her sons," Moore explains. "There is a neediness and voraciousness in her that is kind of shocking."

Nicholas Galitzine as George Villiers

Galitzine, who has appeared in Red, White, & Royal Blue, Bottoms, and the forthcoming The Idea of You, stars as George Villiers. "It was such a joy to chart this journey from fragile young man to essentially someone who had the power of the King of England," he tells Town & Country.

Tony Curran as King James VI and I

Curran, the Scottish actor who is set to appear in the Outlander prequel Blood of My Blood, plays the complex King James. "There's a real vulnerability to King James and a real loneliness there, a hole that needs to be filled within his soul," Curran tells T&C.

Trine Dyrholm as Queen Anne

Danish actress Dyrholm takes on the role of Queen Anne (who was also Danish). Hair stylist Adam James Phillips writes that Queen Anne's hairdo was "one of the hardest wig stylings I’ve ever had to do… The whole look was created with just the wig hair...and a lot of hope."

Mark O'Halloran as Francis Bacon

O'Halloran, an Irish playwright and actor, plays Francis Bacon, a character described as a "cunning, a bear of a man" and "voraciously, politically ambitious."

Laurie Davidson as Robert Carr, Earl Somerset

Davidson plays the 1st Earl Somerset, who is King James's favorite lover before George shows up. "Mary & George is more of a psychodrama than just a typical historical drama," Davidson said of the show. "We already know the facts and the dates and the history but we're giving the motivations, what drives these characters to go after what they go after."

Pearl Chanda as Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset

Chanda plays Carr's wife, Frances, an English noblewoman involved in a scandal; after her husband fell out of favor with the king, they both stood trial for the murder of Thomas Overbury.

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