While reading through some posts I subscribe to on my Live Journal, I came across an entry where someone had put together some pics of the real historical pictures of the the wives of Henry VIII, and then posted some pics of actresses they would like to see cast as those people.  I thought it was a pretty neat idea and wanted to post my own version of it!  I thought I would start with the first wife of Henry VIII… the dignified, devout and “Queen of Hearts”, Catherine of Aragon.

I decided to start with a young version.  If I were to ever have my “own” movie or series of the Tudor Dynasty, I would want to start with Henry as a child  and work my way up to his marriage to Catherine, so we would have to start with a “young version” of her.  Something to note… it drives me SUPER crazy that EVERY movie I have seen where there is a portrayal of Catherine of Aragon, she has dark hair.  This is NOT accurate!  Catherine of Aragon had a light auburn to blonde colored hair with blue eyes.  NOT ALL SPANISH people have dark hair and dark eyes!!!  Sorry, but this element alone drives me nuts and makes me want to shake the casting directors at times.

Something to also note:  I am going mostly by looks here and not how these actresses happen to perform.

Here is an actual pic of a young Catherine of Aragon:

So here are the actresses I picked to portray a young Catherine of Aragon… please keep in mind that I only used a limited amount of choices, as it could have taken me forever to research and gather pics if I used a broader spectrum.

My first choice is Scarlett Johansson

My next choice would be Kirsten Dunst

And my last choice is Christina Hendricks

These girls all have blue eyes, they have blonde or auburn hair and could definitely be made to look like the portrait you see of the real Catherine.  Catherine was said to be shorter, with a curvier shape.  Kirsten Dunst isn’t as curvy as the other two actresses, but her face has a full roundness and she is fairly short.  In my opinion, it would take little effort to make any of these three women resemble Catherine of Aragon.

Now, on to the older version of Catherine of Aragon.  In most movies or series about King Henry VIII, the only version you get to see of Catherine is the older version.  The actresses I chose are ones I thought could do justice to the role.

Here is an actual painting/pic of an older Catherine of Aragon

My first choice is Meryl Streep

My second choice is Kate Winslet

My last choice strays from what Catherine is described to look like (and the point I was originally trying to make) but I figured, what the hell?  She did such a great job portraying her on Showtime’s The Tudors, I really had to add her.  Maria Doyle Kennedy

I really think the various series and movies on The Tudors Dynasty have done an injustice to Queen Catherine of Aragon.  Her life was much more interesting than her divorce from Henry.  She was descended from a very long line of kings and queens, she witnessed the surrender of The Moors in Granada, and also witnessed Columbus embarking on his first voyage to the New World.

Catherine of Aragon’s choice of badge was the pomegranate and her motto was “Humble and Loyal”.  She was very much the ideal queen and was dearly loved by the people of England.