History YMMV / TheTudors

** While Henry VIII was described as a handsome FieryRedhead in his youth, he [[AdiposeRex weighed over 400 pounds]] by his fifties since he couldn't be as active as he used to be because of a jousting accident. Up until Season 4, he's played by a very slender and muscular brunette Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, also known as the face of Hugo Boss.
** Katherine of Aragon was also quite attractive in her youth, but comtemporaries say that her good looks eventually faded away because of her many pregnancies and miscarriages, resulting in her auburn hair greying and her becoming overweight. Here, she's played by a brunette Maria Doyle Kennedy (despite her real hair color being the same as Katherine's), who is certainly not unattractive.

** While Jane Seymour corresponded more to the beauty ideal of the time compared to Anne Boleyn, she was said to be quite plain and insignificant. She's played by Anita Briem in Season 2, and Annabelle Wallis in Seasons 3 and 4, and both of them are definitely not plain.
** Anne of Cleves, who was said by Henry VIII to "look like a horse", is played by ''Joss Stone''. Averted to an extent: see HollywoodHomely below.
** Katherine Howard was said to be quite pretty, but if we look at the portraits we believe are of her, she probably would have killed to look like Tamzin Merchant.
** Ironically enough, Catherine Parr, who was in her early thirties when she married Henry, is played by Joely Richardson, who was then in her late forties. Although it must be said that while contemporaries said Catherine was past her prime by the time she married Henry, Joely Richardson is definitely not bad-looking.
** Averted with Sarah Bolger as Mary Tudor, since she is probably the only one who looks reasonably like her historical counterpart, as Mary was said to be quite pretty in her youth before the hardships of her life understandably took a toil on her.
** Margaret Tudor, Henry's sister (who was actually named Mary and married Louis XII of France, not the King of Portugal), is a redhead like her historical counterpart. However, while the real Mary was renowned as being a great beauty and that Gabrielle Anwar is by no means unattractive, she is definitely way more of a modern beauty than the real Mary was. Starting with the fact that she's pretty tan, and while being tan is attractive by modern day standards, it certainly wasn't in Tudor times...

* HoYay: The composer Thomas Tallis and William Compton.

** Jonathan Rhys Meyers' attempt at acting like an old man in the last two episodes, which largely consists of a hoarse voice about on par with Christian Bale's Batman, and random pauses that come off more like he's having trouble remembering his lines.

* OneSceneWonder: Will Sommers shows up in one episode (played by David Bradley) to cheer Henry up after Jane Seymour dies.

*** Natalie Dormer's portrayal even inspired many people to research more about Anne, which ended up with a much more balanced perspective of Anne Boleyn in many places, even up to academia. Despite the historical inaccuracies, we can at least say the show is partly responsible for giving Anne Boleyn justice and presenting her as the victim of Henry she ultimately was, nearly 500 years after her death.

** In one episode Henry passes a poor woodsman on the road and casually confiscates his wife for the night. The wife in question is Creator/KatieMcGrath, who was working in the wardrobe department at the time, and played Morgana on ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' and Lena Luthor on ''Series/{{Supergirl}}''.

** While Henry VIII was described as a handsome FieryRedhead in his youth, he weighed over 400 pounds by his fifties since he couldn't be as active as he used to be because of a jousting accident. Up until Season 4, he's played by a very slender and muscular brunette Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, also known as the face of Hugo Boss.

*** Creator/DavidBradley (the king's fool, Will Somers), Ian Beattie (a sergeant-at-arms), and Ian =McElhinney= (Pope Clement VII) also went on to ''Series/GameOfThrones'' as Walder Frey, Meryn Trant, and Barristan Selmy, respectively.

** Creator/NatalieDormer (who played Anne Boleyn) is Margaery Tyrell in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. And now Cressida in the ''Literature/Hunger Games'' film adaptations.
*** Creator/DavidBradley (the king's fool, Will Somers), Ian Beattie (a sergeant-at-arms), and Ian McElhinney (Pope Clement VII) also went on to ''Series/GameOfThrones'' as Walder Frey, Meryn Trant, and Barristan Selmy, respectively.

** Creator/NatalieDormer (who played Anne Boleyn) is Margaery Tyrell in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. And now Cressida in the Hunger Games film adaptations.
*** Likewise guest starring in one episode was Creator/DavidBradley (playing the kings fool Will Sommers) and Ian Beattie (The Sergeant-at-arms) both of whom would go on to play Walder Frey and Meryn Trant in ''Series/GameOfThrones''.
** Allen Leech, who played Francis Dereham, went on to play Tom Branson in Series/DowntonAbbey.

*** Likewise guest starring in one episode was Creator/DavidBradley (playing the kings fool Will Sommers) and Ian Beattie (The Sergeant-at-arms) both of whom would go on to play Walder Frey and Meryn Trant in ''Series/GameOfThrones''

*** Likewise guest starring in one episode was DavidBradley (playing the kings fool Will Sommers) and Ian Beattie (The Sergeant-at-arms) both of whom would go on to play Walder Frey and Meryn Trant in ''Series/GameOfThrones''

** NatalieDormer (who played Anne Boleyn) is Margaery Tyrell in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. And now Cressida in the Hunger Games film adaptations.

* CrackShip: Anne marrying Henry was obviously a ForegoneConclusion, but thanks to the chemistry between Creator/HenryCavill and Creator/NatalieDormer, more than a few fans shipped Anne and Charles Brandon despite the historical characters despising each other and not in a ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' way.

* CrackShip: Anne marrying Henry was obviously a ForegoneConclusion, but thanks to the chemistry between Creator/HenryCavill and Natalie Dormer, more than a few fans shipped Anne and Charles Brandon despite the historical characters despising each other and not in a ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' way.

* SoBadIt'sGood: The reason why many people watch this series, despite the many historical inaccuracies done on purpose and the added sexiness. It probably helps that the series is self-aware about it wanting to be a soap opera set in Tudor times than a serious historical drama. Some will also admit they watch it solely for Creator/NatalieDormer as Anne Boleyn as it is one of the highlights of the show - and that is probably helped by the fact Dormer almost went to Cambridge to study history and worked with creator and head writer Michael Hirst to present a portrayal of Anne that was as sympathetic and accurate as possible.

** While Henry VIII was described as a handsome FieryRedhead in his youth, he weighted over 400 pounds by his fifties since he couldn't be as active as he used to be because of a jousting accident. Up until season 4, he's played by a very slender and muscular brunette Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, also known as the face of Hugo Boss.

** While Jane Seymour corresponded more to the beauty ideal of the time compared to Anne Boleyn, she was said to be quite plain and insignificant. She's played by Anita Briem in season 2, and Annabelle Wallis in seasons 3 and 4, and both of them are definitely not plain.

** Mary Tudor also arrived with a lot of negative historical baggage but her portrayal as a seriously flawed yet very sympathetic character won viewers over. At the end of the show many fans were expressing disappointment that they wouldn't get to see Sarah Bolger's take on Queen Mary.

* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/NatalieDormer's character, Anne Boleyn, has a gay brother and is falsely accused for adultery. [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Maergery Tyrell]], which Dormer [[Series/AGameOfThrones played]] later on, is an {{Expy}} of Anne Boleyn who also has a gay brother and is also charged with adultery, though the latter is only in the [[Literature/AFeastForCrows books]].

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Oh boy.

** Whether Anne Boleyn was pretty or not is up to debate, though most will agree it was perhaps more a case of charisma over looks and that she wasn't attractive by Tudor England standards, since she had a darker complexion and hair contrarily to the pale skin and blonde hair that was preferred at the time. Here, she's played by ''Natalie Dormer'', who may not be conventionally attractive, but try to find one person who won't agree to say she's gorgeous.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Oh boy.
** While Henry VIII was described as a handsome FieryRedhead in his youth, he weighted over 400 pounds by his fifties since he couldn't be as active as he used to be because of a jousting accident. Up until season 4, he's played by a very slender and muscular brunette Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, also known as the face of Hugo Boss.
** Katherine of Aragon was also quite attractive in her youth, but comtemporaries say that her good looks eventually faded away because of her many pregnancies and miscarriages, resulting in her auburn hair greying and her becoming overweight. Here, she's played by a brunette Maria Doyle Kennedy (despite her real hair color being the same as Katherine's), who is certainly not unattractive.
** Whether Anne Boleyn was pretty or not is up to debate, though most will agree it was perhaps more a case of charisma over looks and that she wasn't attractive by Tudor England standards, since she had a darker complexion and hair contrarily to the pale skin and blonde hair that was preferred at the time. Here, she's played by ''Natalie Dormer'', who may not be conventionally attractive, but is definitely not bad looking.
** While Jane Seymour corresponded more to the beauty ideal of the time compared to Anne Boleyn, she was said to be quite plain and insignificant. She's played by Anita Briem in season 2, and Annabelle Wallis in seasons 3 and 4, and both of them are definitely not plain.

** It's strongly hinted that Katherine Howard and her friend engaged in lesbian sex at some point in the past.

** Gets worse when you learn that in reality, 'both' Henry and Anne wore yellow in public after Catharine's death, and are reported to have celebrated wildly upon receiving the news.

* FridgeBrilliance: Following Katharine of Aragon's death, the last scene of 2.07 sees Anne wearing a beautiful yellow gown, ecstatic that she is once more pregnant. In the time period this show was set in, several historians have discovered that yellow was the color of mourning in Spain. Anne is basically mocking Katharine's death by choosing to wear that gown on the heels of her death.