Gillian Anderson has deservedly earned high acclaim of late for her very different roles in Netflix hit series 'Sex Education' and 'The Crown'. For the latter, she played Margaret Thatcher and totally transformed for the role. The actress won a Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe among other awards for her performance.
Next up Gillian Anderson is playing not one but two larger-then-life real-life figures.
In 'The First Lady', she'll play Eleanor Roosevelt and in 'The Great', she'll play Joanna, the mother of Catherine the Great.
Gillian Anderson joins Elle Fanning as Catherine and Nicholas Hoult in the role of Emperor Peter III.
According to the official plot synopsis for season 2 of 'The Great': "Catherine finally takes the Russian throne for her own — but if she thought coup-ing her husband was difficult, it’s nothing compared to the realities of ‘liberating' a country that doesn’t want to be.
"She’ll battle her court, her team, even her own mother in a bid to bring the enlightenment to Russia.
"Meanwhile she’ll also battle her heart as Peter slowly transitions from much-hated husband, to prisoner? Ally? Lover?
"Ultimately Catherine will learn that to change a country, you must let it change you, that there is a fine line between idealism and delusion, and that becoming 'Great', will ask more of her than she could have imagined."
Here's Gillian Anderson as Joanna.
Aside from Gillian Anderson, Fanning and Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Bayo Gbadamosi and Belinda Bromilow co-star.
Season 1 of 'The Great' debuted on Hulu in March 2020.
Season 2 is set to premiere on the streamer on 19 November, 2021. Like season 1, it will consist of 10 episodes.
Check out the trailer below.
A premiere date for 'The Great' on Disney+ in Ireland and the UK is TBC.
