We’re late to the party on this one, but what can I say? I’ve been off stealing from the rich to give back to the poor: me. Tax week and all that.
Ridley Scott’s untitled Robin Hood movie (nee Nottingham, nee Robin Hood) is shooting now in the UK, and has added another spectacular actor to a damn fine cast. William Hurt will be William Marshall, the Earl of Pembroke. The Pembroke earldom has been a big part of UK history; Marshall was named the first Earl of Pembroke by Richard the Lionhearted, but that was actually the second time the line had been created. It’s confusing and incestuous, like most of the politics of that era.
Suffice to say that Marshall was a big thing back in the day: knight, crusader, regent, real estate baron. He won’t get that much time in this film, but sometimes Ridley Scott does fun things with massive historical characters that exist on the periphery of the stories he tells. Reference Kingdom of Heaven for a few examples. Hurt is just the sort of actor who can take anything Scott throws out and run with it.