The cast of this movie was wonderful, also! Vanessa Redgrave plays the older (main) Elizabeth, but there are several flashbacks in the movie, where Redgrave's daughter, Joely Richardson plays the younger Elizabeth. Rhys Ifans was an actor I was unfamiliar with, but he played the older Earl of Oxford exceptionally well, while Jamie Campbell Bower played the younger (and very handsome) version. Sebastian Armesto played the young playwright, Ben Johnson, and Rafe Spall played William Shakespeare - who was a hilarious character, and at times reminded me of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean!
Another thing I really enjoyed about this movie was the lack of unnecessary gore. (Take "Elizabeth I" with Helen Mirren, for example - I did not need to see all those gruesome and graphic executions, thank you very much). Of course, there was sword fighting and head-chopping in this movie, but it was much more mellow, which I appreciated. With that being said, the love scenes were also pretty PG - thank you.
Overall, I thought this movie was sensational! I am not opposed to people taking liberties with history to make it more fun, as long as viewers know that that's what's happening and don't think it's all true! I have been called a "historian" by people who follow my Tudor tweets on Twitter, and while that's very flattering, I am merely a Tudor Enthusiast, which means that I like to have fun with my history! By all means, if you don't have all the facts...make something up! Remember: No one ever said this movie is completely true. If nothing else, it's thought-provoking, which is an excellent way to describe this movie. I left the theater thinking, "What if?" and being really fascinated by the story I had just seen.
I urge you, Tudor fans, to get to the movie theater as quickly as you can to see "Anonymous!" I promise, if you open up your mind to some fictional and FUN history, you will not be disappointed!