Before Spider-Man, Tom Holland Starred In A Historical Miniseries Based On A Beloved Book Series

It took me years to realize I'm Tudor-pilled. Not that I'm an expert on the House of Tudor (that would be my older sister), but I do have firm opinions when it comes to on-screen depictions of the royal dynasty that ruled England from the late 1400s to the early 1600s. For instance, I can tell you that Geneviève Bujold is a fabulous Anne Boleyn in "Anne of a Thousand Days," as director Charles Jarrott's 1969 period drama (a film adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's play) captures Anne's political savvy while still acknowledging that her husband, Tudor King Henry VIII (Richard Burton, likewise very good), was a petulant monster.

I can also tell you that while it's not as well known as Sam Neill's other best non-"Jurassic Park" roles, the late actor is sublimely cunning in Michael Hirst's silly/entertaining TV series "The Tudors" as Thomas Wolsey, the Catholic cardinal and English statesman who lost Henry's favor when he failed to get the king's marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, annulled so he could hook up with Anne instead. Of course, when it comes to portrayals of Wolsey's adviser, the lawyer Thomas Cromwell, you can't top "Wolf Hall."

A 2015 historical BBC miniseries based on Hilary Mantel's renowned 2009 novel and its 2012 sequel, "Bring Up the Bodies," the show is a partly fictionalized account of how Cromwell (a perfect Mark Rylance) rose to power by doing what Wolsey (here, Jonathan Pryce) was unable to. However, it's a pretty sympathetic portrait, presenting him as a thoughtful, spiritual person from humble beginnings who realized too late he'd trapped himself between a rock and a hard place by catching Henry's eye. What's more, it features Tom Holland — shortly before he was cast as Spider-Man — as Cromwell's son Gregory.

If you watch "Wolf Hall" solely for Tom Holland, you're going to be disappointed. As Gregory Cromwell, he doesn't do much and typically plays third fiddle to his father and Ralph Sadler (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), who was mentored by Thomas Cromwell and became his secretary at a young age. Then, by the time the sequel series "Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light" premiered in 2024 (four years after Hilary Mantel published its source material), Holland's career had skyrocketed thanks to his work as Spider-Man, so he was replaced as Gregory by Charlie Rowe ("Red Band Society," "Slow Horses").

Holland's far from the only familiar supporting player in "Wolf Hall" and its sequel series, too. The former also stars a pre-"Crown" Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn, a deliciously petty Mark Gatiss ("Doctor Who," "Sherlock") as Thomas Cromwell's rival, the Catholic bishop and politician Stephen Gardener, and Damian Lewis ("Homeland," "Billions") as arguably the definitive screen version of the cruel buffoon that was Henry VIII. Even the late "Lord of the Rings" legend Bernard Hill portrays the skeevy Duke of Norfolk (the uncle of Anne Boleyn and Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard), with "Harry Potter" alumnus Timothy Spall assuming the role for "The Mirror and the Light."

There's a whole lot else to recommend the "Wolf Hall" shows as well, be it Mark Rylance's performance as Thomas Cromwell (a man who never stops playing mental chess, even when he's morally conflicted), the costumes (which you know are period accurate since they're often ridiculous-looking), and the illustrious real-life medieval British castles and buildings where they were filmed. But most of all, they have a wholly timeless message: If you align yourself with tyrants, they will eventually come for your throat.