The Tudors Conference: Michael Hirst

(Courtesy photo)

From affairs to beheadings, the notorious Tudor family is one topic that never ceases to intrigue historians and filmmakers alike.

Thursday evening, “The Tudors” screenwriter Michael Hirst came to CU to speak about the iconic family and how he’s using entertainment to tell their story in a new way.

Set in the traditional Norlin British Studies room, knowledgeable fans and curious attendees of all ages talked with one another as they filled all available seats. It was difficult to pinpoint who had come for what reason at an event that featured the marriage between traditional history and Hollywood drama.

Chris McClaskey, a 19-year-old sophomore computer science major, said he came to learn about Tudor history for his Shakespeare class.

“I wanted to go to get more background about the time period,” McClaskey said. “I’m a computer science major, so I have little to no knowledge about this stuff, other than what I picked up in high school. It’s pretty interesting.”

The event, presented by the Center for British and Irish Studies, was the beginning keynote address in the three-day Tudors Conference. The conference featured Hirst, who wrote the screenplay for the movie “Elizabeth” (1998), starring Cate Blanchett, as well as created the TV series, “The Tudors” (2007).

Hirst took the podium with cheery, British humor that quickly warmed the audience up and got them laughing. Making cracks about John Elway and relating humorous anecdotes from working with Paul McCartney, the evening flowed with easy transitions between the silly and the enlightening.

Tera Sherman, a 20-year-old junior psychology major, said she enjoyed hearing Hirst talk about artistic choices in his work.

“He’s the director of some pretty famous stuff, which is pretty cool, I thought,” Sherman said. “[I liked] how he integrated paintings into his movies and how he really got into the heads of his characters.”

However, there seemed to be a certain topic that weighed heavily on Hirst’s mind. After receiving a lot of criticism for stretching boundaries between historical accuracy and movie plot lines, Hirst was determined to explain his point of view.

First and foremost, Hirst identified himself as a writer and not a historian, despite his extensive research and knowledge about the subject.

“It’s really about humanizing [the characters], being a dramatist rather than a historian,” Hirst said.

When talking about his vision for “Elizabeth,” he stressed his desire to capture the queen as a young woman, full of passion and insecurities that many images of her do not convey. He attempted the same idea in “The Tudors,” especially in terms of showing the characters’ powerful inexperience and young sexual urges. Despite criticism for showing too much, Hirst said there can be truth in his scenarios even if they are not always factual.

“The more extreme you show [the Tudors’ story], the more likely it is to be true,” Hirst said. “It’s not Jane Austen.”

What Hirst ultimately questioned was the ability to accurately display historical events in any form that isn’t strictly a documentary. He said there is a level of unavoidable interpretation when an event is translated into a movie.

“How could it be any other way when the man you are watching is an actor?” Hirst said.

Throughout his speech, Hirst showed genuine compassion for his characters, such as King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth. He said he enjoyed trying to understand the historical figures in his work.

“I love my characters so much,” Hirst said. “I couldn’t wait to get back to my studies to see what they were going to say.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Stephanie Riesco at [email protected].