Power play
Kate Winslet stars as the chancellor in a dark comedy set within an autocratic state…
This glittering series stars Kate Winslet as Chancellor Elena Vernham, the paranoid and unstable leader of a crumbling despotic regime, leaning on volatile soldier Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts) as an unlikely cohort while she struggles to maintain her power…
This sounds intriguing
– if a bit serious…
Not at all! In fact, the shiny six-parter – co-penned by Succession writer Will Tracy and directed by The Queen’s Stephen Frears – is a quirkily funny feast for the eyes. Described by Tracy as “Downton Abbey, but in an autocrat’s palace”, its stunning sets, jaunty soundtrack and impressive cast – the likes of Andrea Riseborough, Hugh Grant and Pippa Haywood co-starring alongside Oscar-winning Ms Winslet – gorgeously combine for a joyous watch. Though beware of the swearing…
What’s the story with Chancellor Vernham?
While this beautifully dressed dictatorial ruler of a fictional European country is seemingly cool, calm and collected, appearances can be deceptive. “Elena is a fragile, emotionally disjointed, paranoid loose cannon of a woman,” shares Kate. “You never quite know what she’s going to do or say, or how she’s going to react. It was quite the experience playing her!”
And what of soldier Zubak? Herbert starts with the lowly task of scanning a room’s air quality ahead of hypochondriac Elena’s entrance, before rocketing to the heady heights of her chief advisor, dietician – and lover… “Zubak, too, is damaged and haunted by his past,” shares Matthias of his alter ego. “At the heart of it, Herbert and Elena are two lost souls coping with existence in a very peculiar context.”
More bizarre romance than political biopic, then?
“It’s a twisted love story about two people who should never have fallen in love,” says Kate. “There are things that happen that are so absurd, all you can do is laugh your head off!”
It was an experience Elena!” playing
KATE