At long last, the royal announcement that we've been waiting for is here! Prime Video's adaptation of the hit novel My Lady Jane is almost nigh and things are getting hot, sexy, and filled with unexpected moments as we revisit the fun story about what could've been if Lady Jane Grey, you know...didn't die.
Cosmopolitan has your official first look at the new series, My Lady Jane, which adapts book one of the iconic Lady Janies book series by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows. The novel follows Lady Jane Grey as she tries to navigate life in the 16th century, but this is not your history book. In this version, Jane isn't beheaded, and there's so many other interesting surprises in store even if you've read best-selling novel.
Starring Emily Bader as none other than Jane herself, things get particularly intriguing when she realizes that she may have to get married sooner than she expected. Edward Blumel plays Lord Guildford Dudley, you know, the guy that she's almost making out with in the photo above. Jordan Peters is the one and only King Edward VI and his version is also 100 percent different from history. Meanwhile, Dominic Cooper, Rob Brydon, Anna Chancellor, and Henry Ashton are just some of the familiar faces that have joined this cast in this wild and witty series.
"The tone of the book is so wonderful and sharp and witty, and effervescent. It was inspiring in all of the most wonderful ways," co-showrunner Meredith Glynn revealed to Cosmopolitan.
And more than just the twist to history is how the story has also slightly changed for a more adult audience.
"When it came to actually creating that into episodic television and telling multiple narratives. There was so many opportunities to create new characters delve into characters, and age it up a little bit for a wider audience," said co-showrunner and creator Gemma Burgess. "The book is so good, so it was a great jumping off point."
"It was such a privilege to be able to use it as inspiration for this incredible show," Meredith added.
Ready to find out some more? Well it wouldn't be a royal announcement without some special reveals. Get your first look at the new series below and we chatted with Gemma and Meredith about what you can expect next!
"Emily Bader is the best—who we discovered via self tapes she made in her kitchen—and she had the perfect accent. She grew up in Temecula, California and yet she is perfectly English. She simply is the character. Jane is an incredibly smart, really highly educated, and very sheltered," Gemma said. "She's a young woman who has these goals outside of romance and marriage. She has other things she wants to do."
"She's a little bit self centered in the way that you know all young people are, but especially people who are really, really brilliant and think they have a great idea of what the world must be like," Meredith added. "And then they get out into the world and they have a record scratch moment."
"Well, he has a reputation for being a rake and a scoundrel," Meredith noted about Lord Guildford Dudley.
"He's a tortured, brooding, character, but also incredibly sharp and calls her on her balderdash," Gemma revealed. "Edward just brings this energy. He's so playful and intelligent. They had such incredible chemistry."
"From minute one, it was wild and wonderful," said Meredith.
Oh, and about the pic featuring them in the forest?
"When they're in the woods, we spent five nights shooting them and every night, they got better and better and better. It was a dream," Gemma said.
As for their romance...
"They both grew up kind of sheltered and are from a privileged background. They haven't theoretically had to struggle a lot. But they also were denied a lot of love and affection by their parents. Neither of them is a complete person yet and, in a way, they can't fall in love until they kind of grow and learn from their experiences."
"Francis Gray, played by Anna Chancellor, was described in her time as a permanently dissatisfied schemer and that was something that we really loved about her and celebrated. It comes from this will of wanting to protect her family. It's deep familial love," Meredith said.
"She gave her daughters these incredible educations but never hugged them and this love was completely anachronistic. There was, in fact, a dad involved in the real Jane Gray like there is in the book. There was an opportunity to play on the trope of the woman whose husband is dead and doing whatever she can to marry her daughters off. You know, like Mrs. Bennett," Gemma revealed. "She's got the intelligence of Jane, but she's playing within the system and trying to win. And she kind of always does and she gets things done."
There's also Lord Stan Dudley, a funny and charming character that ends up starting a little something with Francis that may or may not lead to something more.
"We were extraordinarily fortunate with all of our love pairings and the chemistry that they had. Anna Chancellor and Henry Ashton had never met and yet somehow they met each other and just immediately began playing. There's such a playfulness between them," Gemma told Cosmo.
"Dominic Cooper is a genius and so stellar," Meredith gushed.
"He's also so charismatic. There's one episode where I think we have him in for approximately 15 seconds and when it happens, every time I watch it, I'm like, That’s a star! Like the entire thing lights up. He's amazing," Gemma revealed.
To his left is Kate O'Flynn as Queen Mary. “She's terrifying and he's brilliant. It's another really good pairing," she added.
And then there's Rob Brydon, who plays Lord Dudley, Stan and Guildford father and also a social climber who will do anything to climb the wild social ladder of England aristocracy. He goes against Dominic's Lord Seymour in many unexpected ways, but they might be more alike than they want to think.
"King Edward is often depicted as a sickly king on the brink of death. And it was lovely when Jordan Peters came in and gave the character this completely different spin and energy," Meredith noted. "He's so warm and inviting and strong. And his relationship with Jane is, I think, emotional and believable."
"We always wanted to pay homage to like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Princess Bride, most of all. These are our touch points," Gemma said.
"These are the things that we really, really loved growing up that we miss and wanted to do a modern spin on," Meredith added.
"The most exciting—and enticing!—aspect of making this show was the chance to rewrite the story of one of history's most tragic heroines in a truly original way. Lady Jane Grey was Queen for 9 days and then beheaded, and ever since, has been seen as a doomed and even eroticized figure of female helplessness," the two showrunners said. "We wanted to challenge that narrative, and give Jane the story she deserves, in the ultimate genre mash-up: history, action-adventure, fantasy, romance, comedy - My Lady Jane has it all!"
All eight episodes of My Lady Jane will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on June 27, 2024.
