British acting legend ‘took major pay cut’ to save BBC historical drama

Sir Mark Rylance made big sacrifices to get Wolf Hall finished (Picture: BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Briggs)

The director of one of BBCs best-loved historical dramas has revealed that a British acting legend took a pay cut to save the show.

Peter Kosminsky, director of all 12 episodes of Wolf Hall, has shared that its lead star, Sir Mark Rylance, took a lesser paycheque to keep the show going.

Kosminsky, 68, wrote in a statement that production was only able to get going if he, writer Peter Straughan, and Sir Mark all sacrificed a portion of their pay.

‘[We could only make the show] if the producer, the writer, the director, and the leading actor all gave up a significant proportion of their fees.’

Wolf Hall broadcast its original series back in 2015 and became a huge success for the BBC, winning two Baftas, a Golden Globe, and a Peabody award.

The series is an adaptation of the two Hillary Mantel novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Mantel died in 2022, aged 70, after suffering a stroke.

Sir Mark stars as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC series(Picture: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Despite its success in 2015, bringing the second season of Wolf Hall to light was a process that took almost a decade, Kosminsky confirmed.

‘We had shepherded the series through a 10-year development process. In the end, it was necessary for us to work for very little to get the show made.’

His statement was part of a larger point he was making to the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee – that British dramas find it hard to get made because major streamers like Netflix and Amazon turn them down.

Kosminsky has suggested that 5% of the money raised by UK-based streaming subscriptions should go towards a cultural fund that allows British TV to continue competing on the world stage.

Speaking about his director friend, Sir Mark, 65, said to the BBC: ‘We go back to the first time he wrote and directed a fiction. He began with very important documentaries, and he’s always been a very brave storyteller.

Wolf Hall’s second season took 10 years to make (Picture: BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Briggs)

‘He doesn’t use fiction to escape from things, but rather to amplify or give focus to what’s happening in the present times.’

Sir Mark continued: ‘This is the fourth large series we’ve worked on together, and it’s very much like working with a brother. It’s the closest relationship I’ve had in filmmaking.’

In the series, actor and playwright Rylance plays Thomas Cromwell – a statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry in the 1500s.

While in office, he engineered the annulment of the King’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he would be free to marry Anne Boleyn instead.

He later arranged the King’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, which proved to be a disaster and ultimately resulted in Cromwell’s downfall and execution in 1540.

Peter Kosminsky (right) is fighting for more funding (Picture: Getty/Rachel Murray)

Wolf Hall’s two seasons have both been critically acclaimed (Picture: BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Briggs)

The series depicts these historical events with a cast that also includes Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII, Johnathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, and Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary.

Wolf Hall has been critically acclaimed since the beginning, with season one boasting an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 98%.

Season two was received even more positively, with its Rotten Tomatoes score standing proud at 100%, meaning that it’s part of a very exclusive 100 club on the website.

Catch up with Wolf Hall on BBC iPlayer.

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