Queen Elizabeth I - Key Films and Actors

From the mid 20th century up until now, Queen Elizabeth I has been an icon to portray through film. Various actresses have taken on the role and made it their own over the past 50 years. Each take on the Queen involves a new makeup and hair design and each will be great inspiration to create my own, original look for a contemporary version.

Mary of Scotland (1936)

Florence Eldridge (1936)

Florence Eldridge portrayed Elizabeth Tudor along side Katharine Hepburn as Mary Stuart. Eldridge plays Elizabeth in the portion of her life where her half-sister Mary is ruling the country. As Elizabeth progresses into Queen of England, she gains the elaborate clothing, jewels and the quintessential heart shaped curls with a crown on top. The makeup is simple (but hard to distinguish with the black & white film) with dark lips, however, the eyebrows are present with a simple line.

The Virgin Queen (1955)

Bette Davis (1955)

In 1955, Bette Davis plays the wrathful Queen Elizabeth caught in a love triangle between Sir Walter Raleigh, lady-in-waiting Beth and herself. The amplified colours used in Davis' hair and makeup reflects the lust and power involved in the themes of this film. Almost 20 years after Mary of Scotland, the makeup has developed and changed slightly with the eyebrows being very rounded and a bleach blonde shade - demonstrating the trend of overly plucked brows and hair lines. The wig used is a matching shade of orange as the lips and using orange is a creative twist on the standard red. Davis' (aged 47 in this film) is also showing a more versatile look of middle age - when Elizabeth had most of her power.


Elizabeth (1998)

One of the most well-known contemporary telling of Queen Elizabeth I is the 1998 film Elizabeth. Cate Blanchett shows the progressive journey from young woman to queen. The makeup iconally changes at the end when she proclaims 'I have become a Virgin' and is 'married to England', she has a very pale complexion, rouge-tinged cheeks matched with a pale pink lip. The eyebrows in the 1998 interpretation are non-existent and the wigs created accentuate the high hair line too.




Shakespeare in Love (1998)

In the same year as Elizabeth, Shakespeare in Love was released with Judi Dench as a starring role. Elaborately dressed as Queen Elizabeth I, she is involved in the romantic story of William Shakespeare falling in love. Her makeup is very reflective of the youthful attempt to stay young through a mask of white and red shades of colour. The eyebrows are dull, cheeks are very rosy and lips are pale. Again, in this 1998 production the hair is very accurate with the tight curly frizz in a heart shaped wig. 

The Virgin Queen (2005)

Anne-Marie Duff portrayed Elizabeth Tudor in 2005. This adaptation of Elizabeth's life covers all major ages - from her fearful days as a teenager to her elder years as queen. This image shown here from the chapter of her coronation shows a varied makeup look to the other examples showed above. Her hair is a strawberry-blonde as opposed to a fiery red. There is barely any remains of make-up apart from the pale complexion. This film is a great example for transformation within makeup as it shows all portions of her life.




The Tudors (2009-2010)

BBC produced the Tudors between 2007 and 2010. The role of Elizabeth Tudor was introduced in 2009 as is played by a young girl named Claire MacCauley. At this age in the tv series, Elizabeth has no makeup on, however, the young girl wears a soft crown of flowers to show her royalty. As the character develops into her teenage years, Laoise Murray takes over the role. At this point, her complexion is much more white but the hair is still light and kept up with a floral crown. The glowing skin is a contemporary take on the Elizabethan techniques.

Anonymous (2011)

In the most recent portrayal of Elizabeth I's life, Joely Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave share the role to play portions of her adult life. The makeup for both women is simple with a pale skin tone and light eyebrows. As she is portrayed to have aged with Redgrave's scenes, more rouge is added onto the cheeks - potentially the attempt to layer more makeup to remove young. The choice to use to adults and develop the story and makeup with them is original and a exciting way to experiment with different faces.

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