Did You Know?
The costuming and shot composition of the coronation scene is based on Elizabeth's coronation portrait. For example, Elizabeth is shown wearing her hair long. This is historically accurate, as the real Elizabeth was giving the public a sign of her virginity.
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Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes) recites "My true love hath my heart" to Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett), a sonnet written by Sir Philip Sidney, son-in-law of Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), trusted advisor to the queen.
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1998 was the only year that two performers were nominated for Academy Awards for playing the same character in two different films in the same year. Judi Dench was nominated (and won) for Best Supporting Actress for playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love and Cate Blanchett was nominated for Best Actress for portraying Elizabeth I in this film.
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First English speaking movie debut for ex-soccer star Eric Cantona. It was rumored that both stars Christopher Eccleston and Angus Deayton actually wanted the producers to cast Cantona in a small French role in the film following his retirement from football in 1997 because: 1. Cantona began to study acting during his infamous 9 month ban in 1995. 2. Eccleston and Deayton were Manchester United fans themselves.
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Producer Alison Owen's two children appear in the movie: actor Alfie Allen and Lily Allen, who is best known as a successful pop singer.
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Christopher Eccleston's character the Duke of Norfolk doesn't actually do much in the film despite being the principal villain. So, in order to create a sense of action for him, the director chose to show Norfolk in motion as much as possible.
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Thomas Howard, AKA Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) and Sir William Cecil, AKA Lord Burghley (Richard Attenborough) actually had a common relative. Norfolk's mother was Frances de Vere, whose nephew Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, was married to Burghley's daughter Anne Cecil. It has also been suggested that Edward de Vere was the true author of Hamlet (usually considered to have been written by William Shakespeare), and that the characters Hamlet, Ophelia and Polonius were based on himself, Anne, and William, respectively. Christopher Eccleston has played Hamlet on stage, and Richard Attenborough appeared in the 1996 film Hamlet.
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Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley, served Elizabeth for most of her reign as Secretary of State and Lord Treasurer. He continued to advise her up until his death in 1598.
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