Portrayals
William Brereton was portrayed by James Gilbert on the Showtime series, The Tudors, during season 2. The show made it seem he had been commissioned by the Pope (Peter O'Toole) to assassinate Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) for the good of King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and the Catholic Church. He was accused of having had carnal knowledge of the Queen Anne. Unlike the others in his position, who either denied -- George Boleyn (Pádraic Delaney) and Henry Norris (Stephen Hogan) -- or were tortured into admitting it -- Mark Smeaton (David Alpay) -- Brereton falsely admitted his guilt to Thomas Cromwell (James Frain).
On The Tudors, although Brereton was an actual historical character, his character was totally fictionalized. William Brereton was not a Jesuit and was not commissioned by the Pope to assassinate Anne Boleyn. Anne was crowned queen in 1533 and executed in 1536, the Pope did not formally establish the Jesuit order until 1540. Brereton was probably collateral damage when Thomas Cromwell moved against the Boleyn Faction and decided to get rid of him in the same coup.
In the show Brereton is portrayed as a young man while in reality he was almost fifty, and it is not mentioned that he was not wealthy.
Read more about this topic: William Brereton (groom)
Famous quotes containing the word portrayals:
“We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)