Sir Mark Rylance has confirmed he will be taking on the role of Thomas Cromwell in a TV adaptation of The Mirror And The Light.
The 62-year-old actor won a Bafta TV award for his role in the 2015 adaptation of Dame Hilary Mantel’s first two novels in the historical series – Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2, he said Peter Kosminsky would be returning to direct the final episode and that the scripts were almost complete.
The Oscar winner added he hopes production will begin in 2023.
He told host Dermot O’Leary: “They’re working on it. They have the drafts of the six scripts.
The Wolf Hall Trilogy was written by Dame Hilary Mantel (Ian West/PA).
“I haven’t seen them yet but they are all in draft form and the wonderful Peter Kosminsky is developing them with the producers.
“You’re about to tell me. So hopefully that’s something we’ll be doing next year.”
The original BBC Two show, which brought together Dame Hilary’s Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, starred Sir Mark as Cromwell and Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII.
It was a critical hit, drawing an average audience of more than four million viewers.
Dame Hilary’s third book, The Mirror And The Light, was published in March 2020 and continued the story of Cromwell’s rise to the heart of Henry VIII’s court as his closest advisor before he fell from grace and was publicly executed in 1540.
The Wolf Hall trilogy, starring Ben Miles as Cromwell, was also adapted for the stage.
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/sir-mark-rylance-confirms-sequel-to-wolf-hall-adaptation-41465492.html Sir Mark Rylance confirms the sequel to Wolf Hall’s adaptation