After watching Gina McKee in The Forsyte Saga recently (and noting Kendra’s distaste for the actor in that show), I figured it’s time to look at what else historical and costumey McKee’s done. A fair bit, including some fascinating historical figures!
Mary Leslie in The Treasure Seekers (1996)
The Duchess of Bedford in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
Sarah in The Reckoning (2001)
Lalla in The Lost Prince (2003)
Irene Heron Forsyte in The Forsyte Saga & To Let (2002-03)
Sister Drummond in Atonement (2007)
Sally Brass in The Old Curiosity Shop (2007)
Caterina Sforza in The Borgias (2011-13)
Madeleine in Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2013)
Wallis Simpson in Royal Wives at War (2016)
Countess Henrietta Harding in Phantom Thread (2017)
Landry’s Mother in Knightfall (2018)
Countess Praskovya Bruce in Catherine the Great (2019)
Sister Adela in Black Narcissus (2020)
What’s your favorite historical costume role by Gina McKee?
Definitely check out “The Reckoning,” if you can find it. Paul Bettany is a monk on the run from his sins who takes up with a troupe of mystery play actors led by Willem Dafoe. (McKee is one of the troupe, also Brian Cox and a young Tom Hardy.) There’s a murder mystery, Vincent Cassel as the villainous local lord. The costumes are a bit fanciful, but the story is worth it.
My, that sounds enjoyable! I’ve never been disappointed in a McKee performance, but Caterina Sforza was indeed the most kick-ass.
To be clear, I find Irene the character annoying! Not Gina McKee the actress. At least in that version of The Forsyte Saga.
That’s because that Irene is insufferable!
(I even grouse about her name – oh sure, it may be spelled Irene, but it’s pronounced Iren-nee!)
I haven’t watched the series yet, but I’ve read the books and found Irene extremely annoying. Everyone was constantly talking about her like she was the most fascinating, amazing person on the planet and I had no idea why. She was beautiful (the author never tired of telling us how damn beautiful she was) but she was a completely flat character. So I guess Gina McKee didn’t have much to work with.
She was one of the main characters in Our Friends In The North, which follows the fates of three people in Newcastle in the 1960s and forward. It starred Gina, Mark Strong, Daniel Craig and Christopher Eccleston, so maybe a mention of that might be a good thing.
Four people, not three!!
I could never figure out why everyone so hot for Gina McKee’s character in the Forsyte Saga, I found nothing redeeming in her. Will have to check out the other films/TV shows that she was in.
Jimmy P is an infinitely skippable film, which is too bad because the non-fiction book it’s based on is quite interesting. Admittedly I also can’t get past that the whole film revolves around an Indigenous character (Jimmy P) and yet they cast a non-Indigenous actor (Benicio Del Toro) in the role.
Is this possible that both costumes in that “Catherine the Great” movie doesn’t fit her – bot are too large?
Our Friends in the North starts in 1964 and covers a period of 30 years, and in Britain probably counts as her breakout role. An astoundingly good cast; she holds her own with Mark Strong, Daniel Craig and Christopher Eccleston as co-leads, with a host of other stellar acting talent in other roles. Definitely worth investigating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Friends_in_the_North https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115305/