In the hit series The Tudors, Natalie Dormer plays the ambitious and beautiful Anne Boleyn. Thrust into the spotlight by the scheming men in her family, Anne catches the eye of Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). They fall in love and Anne somehow manages to get Henry to forget all about his wife and marry her instead. However, things don’t last and Anne eventually loses her head, literally.
Anne Boleyn falls hard for Henry VIII, and she ends up losing her head for it
Fans of The Tudors get to watch how Henry moves from woman to woman like it’s nothing. However, Anne manages to bring out something special in Henry and he considers her over all the rest. In a time when every woman is hoping the king will notice them, Anne gets him to absolutely adore her, for a time.
Anne marries Henry and he even breaks from the Catholic church to be with her. She gives him a daughter, Elizabeth, who would be the future monarch, Elizabeth I. Anne suffers miscarriages and eventually Henry sets his eyes on another woman, Jane Seymour. The flames start to die out between Anne and Henry. He actually arrests her for treason and wants her to be executed, and fans know Henry always gets what he wants.
The original Penny Dreadful was a series about monsters, mostly of the literal variety, featuring stories about witches, werewolves and other dark creatures right alongside real-life versions of Victor Frankenstein and Dorian Gray. Its sequel series, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, tells a similarly dark tale, but chooses to set its story in a land filled with sunshine, a world whose monsters wear beautiful fashions and bright surfaces often cover rot underneath.
At the center of this beautiful, complicated mess sits Magda (Natalie Dormer), a shape-shifting demon whose love of chaos and violence appears to be as rooted in the joy of breaking things and making messes she doesn’t have to clean up as it does any hard and firm spiritual guidelines.
“There will come a time when the world is ready for me,” Magda intones in the series’ opening moments, predicting a dark and dire future for humanity that involves global conflict and fratricide.
The world she’s referring to is 1930s Los Angeles, which teeters on the verge of tearing itself to pieces as a race war bubbles in the streets and fascists creep toward positions of governmental authority. But in the larger world of our television landscape, her presence makes a similarly outsized impact from her very first scenes.
Magda, it would appear, is not here to punish or destroy so much as to illuminate, to sow the seeds of chaos that might prove to her reclusive holy sister Santa Muerte that humanity is unworthy of her. Why? Well, we don’t entirely know. But in every folklore, aren’t there always divine beings who are simultaneously symbiotic partners and rivals, who dance around their hatred for and need of one another for all eternity? Given that Santa Muerte, to date, hasn’t seemed terribly interested in diverting her sister’s quite literal highway to hell, it seems safe to assume that’s in some way what’s happening here.
Gallery Links:
– Promotional Posters
– 1.01
Meet the human forms of shape-shifting demon Magda.
When EW spoke with Natalie Dormer last year to get the goods on her new role… well, roles in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, the Game of Thrones vet promised Magda, her shape-shifting demon persona, will take three different guises that she’ll use to manipulate humankind in 1938 Los Angeles. “The audience will discover who those identities are as they continue to watch the show,” she said at the time.
In a brand-new sneak peek, which EW can exclusively debut, we see these different forms and learn more about how she’ll use them over the course of season 1.
First things first, this is not Penny Dreadful season 4. City of Angels is more a “spiritual descendant,” as creator John Logan once put it, to the original series, which placed actress Eva Green in a gothic London setting.
“The continuity from the first iteration of Penny Dreadful to this one is the supernatural element in which monsters are present but the main monsters are within the characters,” explains Rory Kinnear, who played Frankenstein’s monster in the original and now returns as a German Nazi living in America as a physician.
Magda is what makes City of Angels a Penny Dreadful story.
As the sister of Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), who is the Holy Angel of Death and ferry woman of souls to the afterlife, she is an agent of chaos who believes humankind is inherently evil — and she’ll use her changeling powers to prove that point. The video, shown above, sees Magda taking on various forms as she speaks of a “time when nation will battle nation, when race will devour race, when brother will kill brother.”
At the center of it all is Tiago Vega, played by Here & Now‘s Daniel Zovatto. The first chicano police detective on the L.A.P.D. force, Tiago works to solve a case seemingly linked to Día de Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, while the planned construction of L.A.’s Arroyo Seco Parkway threatens to displace his family and neighborhood. Zovatto calls it “a roller coaster of emotions” as Tiago grapples with racism, Nazism, police brutality, and demagoguery.
“It’s intense,” he says. “I mean, it is dreadful.”
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels — also starring Nathan Lane as a Jewish detective and a mentor figure for Tiago — premieres this April 26 on Showtime.
Watch in higher resolution in the video archive.
Murder, Los Angeles, Satan, the Third Reich, anti-Mexican bigotry, an Aimee Semple McPherson-style evangelist and Nathan Lane with a Tommy gun – the new trailer for Showtime’s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels packs quite the wallop.
Billed as a “spiritual descendant of the original Penny Dreadful story,” the new series, kicking off next month and mixing historical reality with the supernatural, opens in 1938 Los Angeles with a grisly murder shocking the city (we see the mutilated, Joker-looking corpse in the trailer). Detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and his partner Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane) investigate the crime, getting drawn into a tale that encompasses the building of L.A.’s first freeways, the city’s traditions of Mexican-American folklore, Nazi espionage, and the rise of radio evangelism. Before long, Vega and his family “are grappling with powerful forces that threaten to tear them apart.”
In addition to Zovatto (Here and Now) and Lane, the new Penny Dreadful stars Natalie Dormer, Kerry Bishé, Rory Kinnear, Adriana Barraza, Michael Gladis, Jessica Garza and Johnathan Nieves. Tony winner (for Red) and three-time Oscar nominee John Logan, the creator, writer and executive producer of the original Penny Dreadful, continues in those same roles. Michael Aguilar serves as executive producer, along with Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris, both of Neal Street Productions. Logan’s Desert Wolf Productions produces, and James Bagley serves as co-executive producer.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels premieres Sunday, April 26 at 10/9c on Showtime.
Watch in higher resolution in the video archive.
Meet Natalie Dormer’s shape-shifting demon Magda.
Penny for your thoughts? How about a Penny Dreadful.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels‘ first trailer has officially descended upon us, bringing with it a battle for humanity’s very soul. On one side is Game of Thrones‘ Natalie Dormer as shape-shifting demon Magda, who believes humans will always succumb to their more monstrous temptations. On the other is Magda’s sister Santa Muerte, the Holy Angel of Death played by Knock Knock‘s Lorenza Izzo, who believes in their inherent goodness. Who will be proven right?
“All mankind needs to become the monster he truly is, is being told he can,” Magda says in the footage. “And when this world is burned, there will be no one… no one but you and me, sister.”
Penny Dreadful creator John Logan sees City of Angels as a spiritual descendant to the first series, which starred Eva Green and concluded in 2016. The main story at play here follows Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto), the LAPD’s first Chicano detective in the 1930s, during the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway that displaces Tiago’s family.
“I wanted to tell a story about a Latino family under pressure because of all the forces at play — not only in freeway building but also in crime, law enforcement, and immigration policy,” Logan previously told EW. Being that this is a Penny Dreadful, there’s also a murder connected to Día de Muertos that kickstarts this saga.
Glimpsed in the trailer are three of Magda’s human forms, which we’ll meet in season 1 of City of Angels. It’s through these guises that she stirs the pot of human affairs.
The series will premiere Sunday, April 26 at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.
Watch in higher resolution in the video archive.
Gallery Link:
– Apr 03 | ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 8 Premiere
Natalie Dormer will play a supernatural demon in creator John Logan’s ‘City of Angels.’Natalie Dormer is ready to get her demon on for Showtime.
The Game of Thrones favorite has been tapped to star in the premium cable network’s Penny Dreadful revival, City of Angels.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, which will feature all new characters and storylines, opens in 1938 Los Angeles, a time and place deeply infused with social and political tension. When a grisly murder shocks the city, Detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) is embroiled in an epic story that reflects the rich history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city’s first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the Third Reich and the rise of radio evangelism. Before long, Tiago and his family are grappling with powerful forces that threaten to tear them apart.
Dormer will topline the series as Magda, a supernatural demon who can take the appearance of anyone she chooses and who manifests in a number of guises throughout the story. The character is a dangerous enemy and invaluable ally. Dormer joins a cast that also includes Jessica Garza (The Purge) and Johnathan Nieves (New Amsterdam).
Dormer spent six seasons as Margaery Tyrell on HBO juggernaut Game of Thrones. The Penny Dreadful role brings the actress back into the Showtime fold after she starred as Anne Boleyn on the cabler’s The Tudors. Her credits include Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Scandalous Lady Woman and Elementary. On the feature side, her credits include starring and co-writing In Darkness, The Forest, The Hunger Games franchise and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Series creator John Logan and his Desert Wolf Productions banner, Michael Aguilar (Kidding) and Neal Street Productions duo Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris executive produce the series; James Bagley co-exec produces. Paco Cabezas (Penny Dreadful, The Alienist) will direct multiple episodes. Production will begin this year. A premiere date has not yet been determined.
Dormer is repped by UTA, United Agents, Untitled Entertainment and Jackoway Austen.
Actress and writer, Natalie Dormer is expanding her relationship with the global producer and distributor, Fremantle by signing a with a multi-year first-look deal. The new pact that will see Dormer create a slate of drama projects which will be exclusively co-developed with Fremantle.
Dormer, Fremantle and Mainstreet Pictures are currently developing Vivling, a series based on the life of legendary British actress Vivien Leigh. The story will follow the highs and lows of the much-loved starlet who conquered Hollywood and give audiences a glimpse into the complex mind of the creative genius. News on further projects is to follow.
Natalie Dormer said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Fremantle. Their impressive slate reflects a dedication to the highest quality storytelling and the strength of their reputation internationally.”
Christian Vesper, Fremantle’s Executive Vice President and Creative Director for Global Drama commented: “Natalie is a true talent both as an actress and producer. Her great ambition and taste for compelling entertaining projects is a perfect mix to add to the Fremantle family. We’re excited to be working with Natalie and to announce further new projects soon.”
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