Queen & Slim and Without Remorse actress Jodie-Turner Smith is sharing her thoughts on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s decision to step back from their royal duties.
Smith, who will soon star as Queen Anne Boleyn in the upcoming series of the same name, recently spoke to The Telegraph where she discussed her new royal role, the mixed reactions to her casting news, and why she feels the exit of Meghan and Harry from royal life is a missed opportunity. She says Meghan’s presence could’ve been a way to help bring the institution of the British monarchy into the 21st century, helping it evolve into something more progressive and more functional.
“I think that Meghan could have been that,” Smith explained per People. “It was a terrible missed opportunity, the way in which it was not allowed to be something that really modernizes that institution, and to change it to something for the better. “I think that’s why there’s dysfunction there.”
She added, “I think it’s interesting that the institution is not changing with the time, or quickly enough. We have to look at things in a modern context. And only then we will recognize that certain things are archaic, and don’t really serve us as a community and are limiting us. I think we should keep those things in stories and move on to something else in reality.”
The British actress also touched on the announcement of her casting as Anne Boleyn for the new Channel 5 series, chalking up the mixed fan reaction to the news as mere resistance. “Anne Boleyn is a character loved by so many and a story so well known that people are attached to the way that it looks in their own imagination,” People reports. “So, when you introduce something that is so contrary there’s going to be resistance. I think it’s to be expected.”
Per Variety, Anne Boleyn will tell the story of “Boleyn’s final months of her life from her perspective, as she struggles to secure a future for her daughter and challenge the powerful patriarchy closing in around her.” The series will also depict various turning points in Anne’s life as she journeys to find strength and establish herself as an equal among men.
While there’s been no word yet on a specific premiere date, the psychological thriller is set to drop sometime this year.