Wolf Hall star Mark Rylance took a ‘significant’ pay cut to ensure the latest series got made, the director of the drama has admitted.
Peter Kosminsky said that both he and Rylance, as well as the show’s producer and writer, had to ‘work for very little’ so Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light could go ahead.
In the BBC historical drama, Rylance stars as Thomas Cromwell – key adviser of Henry VIII until eventually falling out of favour. Meanwhile, Damian Lewis portrays Henry and Jonathan Pryce takes the role of Cardinal Wolsey.
Mr Kosminsky’s comments were made in written evidence he submitted to Parliament’s culture, media and sport committee as part of its inquiry into ‘British film and high-end TV’.
He wrote: ‘Ten years ago, I made Wolf Hall, the BBC TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s two Booker Prize winning novels.
‘Last year, I directed The Mirror and the Light, completing the adaptation of Hilary’s trilogy.
‘I’m writing this submission to alert the Committee to the fact that, were we to try to make The Mirror and the Light today, we would not succeed.’
He added: ‘The Mirror And The Light was offered to each streamer in turn.
In the BBC historical drama, Mark Rylance (pictured) stars as Thomas Cromwell – key adviser of Henry VIII until eventually falling out of favour
Peter Kosminsky’s comments were made in written evidence he submitted to Parliament’s culture, media and sport committee. Pictured: Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall
Mr Kosminsky said that both he and Rylance, had to ‘work for very little’ so Wolf Hall could go ahead
‘Despite the fact that its first series had won a Golden Globe, they all turned it down.
‘It was only possible to begin production when the producer, the writer, the director and the leading actor all gave up a significant proportion of their fees.’
Mr Kosminsky added: ‘We had shepherded the series through a ten-year development process but, in the end, it was necessary for us to work for very little to get the show made.
‘Mr Bates and the Post Office, which altered the national narrative on an important issue, similarly teetered on the brink of not making it to the screen.’
It comes amid talk of a crisis in funding expensive TV drama. There are concerns that British shows are struggling to get the foreign co-investment they need and there is on-going high inflation in the market.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light was made with investment from US streaming service PBS Masterpiece, alongside the BBC.
The BBC’s own submission said: ‘Multiple greenlit BBC productions are now stuck in funding limbo and are not progressing to production.’
