Trivia / Henry V (1989)

• Acclaimed Flop: Cost $9 million to produce, grossed $10.2 million, but was universally praised.
• All-Star Cast: The cast list reads rather like a "Who's Who of British Acting", with names like Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, BRIAN BLESSED, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Ian Holm, Christian Bale, Robbie Coltrane and Richard Briers. It's especially worth noting that this was not an All-Star Cast at the time. Ian Holm, Derek Jacobi, and Brian Blessed were somewhat fairly well-known character actors on-screen, and Christian Bale was a rising child actor coming off of Empire of the Sun, but everyone's gotten a lot more famous since, especially star-director Kenneth Branagh and his wife Emma Thompson.
• Creator Couple: Branagh cast wife (at the time) Emma Thompson as Catherine.
• The Danza: Possibly the biggest-ever example of this trope; the part of Michael Williams is played by veteran film and stage actor (and Judi Dench's husband) Michael Williams.
• Dawson Casting:
  • In real life there was a fifteen-year age difference between Henry and Catherine, with the latter being nineteen when they married in 1420. Emma Thompson was 30, a year older than Kenneth Branagh.
  • Duke Thomas Beaufort of Exeter was 38 at the time of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and 43 by the time of the Treaty of Troyes in 1420. BRIAN BLESSED was 53.
• Directed By Castmember: Branagh both directed the film and played King Henry, something he did in several of his other film versions of Shakespeare's plays.
• Enforced Method Acting: Kenneth Branagh said in an interview that carrying the "corpse" of Christian Bale caused him terrible back pain. He carried his dead weight for the whole of a long tracking shot. The look on his face was genuine pain and not acting.
• What Could Have Been: Ian McKellen turned down the role of the King of France.

---