Lady Jane Grey gets a second chance in Prime Video’s spunky, hilarious, and utterly romantic new series, My Lady Jane, premiering June 27. Gone is the tragic real-life narrative of Lady Jane Grey getting beheaded after being Queen of England for just nine days in the 16th Century. My Lady Jane rewrites her history.
“We’re giving her a chance to make a better future for herself,” Emily Bader told TV Insider. The actress acknowledged that Lady Jane is “one of history’s most tragic female figures. I think I needed to have an understanding of that, so I could really do justice to this undoing of that history. I think I heard someone say that every tortured female heroine in history deserves a rom-com written about her. I think they really do.”
Emily Bader as Lady Jane Grey in ‘My Lady Jane.’ (Jonathan Prime / Prime Video)
And that’s exactly what she gets in My Lady Jane, which is based on the novel of the same name by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. “We’re focusing on the female gaze in a way that I think is really fun and unexpected,” she teased. “The Tudor times were, you could say, bleak, so it needed a little bit of fun. I think it’s just such a refreshing take on a female story. ”
In addition to Jane, other real-life historical figures have a place in the Prime Video series, including Jane’s husband, Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel), and King Edward VI (Jordan Peters). “I think it was really nice to have the framework of the real characters from history, and then be able to put our own modern spin on them,” Bluemel said. “There are portraits of Jane and Guildford, and they did not look very much like us. It was nice to sort of instantly be released from the historical accuracy of the characters and really give our own interpretations.”
In this coming-of-age story, Jane fights the patriarchy and supernatural elements. “It’s definitely genre-bending, which we need to bend more,” Bader noted about the series. “It doesn’t stick in the box. I think, unlike everything else that’s out, it is like a little bit of everything.”
Bluemel described the series as a “romantasy,” a blending of romance and fantasy. He said, “It’s got a bit of everything in it. It’s really funny, there’s adventure, and it’s got a lot of heart and sex. It’s got a lot of sex, actually.”
Speaking of sex and romance, the chemistry between Jane and Guildford is electric. Bluemel teased that Jane and Guildford go on a “real journey” as they go from enemies to friends to lovers.”It isn’t a classic story of a damsel in distress who is saved by a prince,” he continued, “In fact, if anything, it’s like the complete opposite. Guildford really needs Jane, and she is the person who has the potential to save him. I think that’s a really nice flip of the script.”
Bader quipped, “They infuriate each other, but are also infatuated with each other.”
Jordan Peters as King Edward, Kate O’Flynn as Princess Mary, Dominic Cooper as Lord Seymour, and Abbie Hern as Bess in ‘My Lady Jane.’ (Jonathan Prime / Prime Video)
When King Edward VI was crowned monarch, he was just nine years old. In My Lady Jane, the young prince is aged up into his 20s and has grown listless on the throne. “He’s been in power for quite a long time,” Peters told TV Insider. “But because of him being in power for so long from such a young age, it’s kind of like he does not want to be king anymore and take these responsibilities. He never had a childhood. He’s never been able to go out with people not knowing who he is. So getting to know King Edward and that loneliness and him wanting to go out and wanting to find out who he is and find love, it was exciting.”
Related‘A Family Affair’ & More 2024 Rom-Coms & Dramas to Swoon Over
Edward and Jane are “best friends,” Bader said. “He challenges her mentally and intellectually, which is really important, because it’s not something that’s valued necessarily in her home life. I think that’s the solace that they provide each other,” she said.
But what about Mary (Kate O’Flynn) and Elizabeth (Abbie Hern), who both come to power during the Tudor era? Peters revealed that there’s a major sibling rivalry between Edward and his sisters. “There is a relationship, but we’re not as close as we think brothers and sisters should be because King Henry VIII had different wives, and we’re born from different women,” Peters explained. “King Edward became king because he is the boy. Is he the perfect fit to be king? Probably not. So there’s a lot of jealousy between Mary and Edward, and probably a bit of Elizabeth.”
My Lady Jane, Series Premiere, June 27, Prime Video
More Headlines:
‘My Life with the Walter Boys’ Season 2: Everything We Know So Far‘My Lady Jane’ Cast Teases ‘Romantasy’ & ‘Genre-Bending’ Spin on Doomed Queen’s Life‘Price Is Right’s Drew Carey Is the New O.G. of Game Show Hosts, and He’s Here to StayJared Padalecki Reveals He Struggled With Suicidal Thoughts as Acting Pressures Took Toll‘The Challenge’ Sets ‘Battle of the Eras’ Cast: Everything We Know About Season 40 So Far
