Vanessa Redgrave and 15 Other Actors Who Have Played Queen Elizabeth I

No doubt about it, Queen Elizabeth I of England was pretty cool. She’s also endlessly fascinating, which is why she tends to show up so frequently in film and television. Case in point: The upcoming Roland Emmerich thriller Anonymous. In it, Vanessa Redgrave plays Good Queen Bess alongside Rhys Ifans’ Edward de Vere, also known as the 17th Earl of Oxford– who, the film posits, is not Elizabeth’s incestuous lover, but also the true author of the works of William Shakespeare. Personally, I like to think that Shakespeare really is the dude from Stratford who keeps popping up in public records, but that aside, Anonymous looks like it could be pretty interesting. Check out the trailer here:

The wonderful Ms. Redgrave joins the ranks of many who have played Elizabeth over the years; in fact, I think all we need to complete the collection of venerable British actresses who have played the Virgin Queen is for Maggie Smith to take her turn. Who else has played Elizabeth throughout the years? Read on to find out!