The Other Boleyn Girl comes to Showcase on Sunday, May 16 at 4pm and 10pm ET/PT 

To most non-English History majors, he's usually thought of as the British monarch with an insatiable appetite for food, wine, women and wives (six, as dutifully recounted by Herman's Hermits) -- but in reality, King Henry VIII was a powerful and respected ruler who brought great prosperity to the British people. That said, the sovereign Henry Tudor's notorious lusts would also lead to one of the most turbulent social and religious upheavals in England's history. Behind the castle walls, his sexual desires and yearnings would not only cause a nasty and bloody break from the Catholic Church, but to the beheading of two of his queens – including Anne Boleyn, the mother of Great Britain's great Elizabeth I.

In The Other Boleyn Girl (adapted from Philippa Gregory's best-selling book of the same name), British filmmaker Justin Chadwick weaves an engrossing and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal, set against the backdrop of a defining moment in British history. At the core of the seductive, tragic story are the Boleyn sisters, portrayed by Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2, Vicky Cristina Barcelona) as Mary and Natalie Portman (Star Wars 1-3, Brothers) as Anne, two siblings driven by their ambitious father and uncle to advance the Boleyn family's status by courting the affections of the King Henry VIII.

Natalie, Scarlett, and co-star Eric Bana sat down for a roundtable interview when the movie was still in production in 2008.

Natalie, did you know much about Henry VIII and the reasons he had Anne Boleyn, his Queen, beheaded?
NATALIE PORTMAN: I really wasn't aware of this story before I read the script. So, it was exciting to be able to introduce this story from the beginning. And then it's exciting because, in England, where I think people know a lot about Anne Boleyn, it's pop culture knowledge. And it's exciting, too, to turn it on its head because the story of Mary is a very untold story. And, I think a lot of people in the U.S. know this story. The book was really, really popular here. Every woman I know is like, 'When's that movie coming out? When's that movie coming out?'
Were you given a choice of which Boleyn sister you could play? If so, why did you choose Anne?
PORTMAN: I read the script and loved it and came on as Anne. But, I was like, 'I will only do it if Scarlett (Johansson) does it, too, playing my sister,' because I have just loved her for so long -- since we were kids. She's always so true and so good, and you just never get the chance to work with someone your own age, and that you so admire. Doing this film with Scarlett was such a great, great chance to do that.
What about you Scarlett, did you have any choice of which Boleyn sister you could play?
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: A major part of why I joined the project was because Natalie was involved and was set to play Anne, and I have been a huge fan of Natalie's for a long time. I always loved her choices and performances. I'd never had the opportunity to work on such an even playing field with a peer -- being able to play siblings. It was a great opportunity for both of us.
Natalie, how do you feel about marriage?
PORTMAN: The fact that marriage is a legal contract at all is crazy. The fact that the word husband means 'to tame' or whatever, as in animal husbandry, is ridiculous. It's ingrained in the language, the ownership and all of that with marriage.
In the film, the girls' family basically tries to trade off their daughters into royalty. Have we really advanced that much in society, Scarlett, when you can read the Weddings section of the Sunday New York Times to see who is getting married and many of them look like mergers?
JOHANSSON: I think it's something that definitely still exists today. There are still debutante ball and things like this. It's completely foreign from any lifestyle that I grew up in, but I hear rumors of it.
Historically, Henry VIII was known as a king who had a hard time avoiding temptation, especially with the ladies. Since you always have your family on set with you, Eric, how difficult is it for you -- as a popular leading man -- to have that same kind of temptation all around you?
BANA: It's a bitch! I gotta tell ya. [laughs] No, seriously, that was a joke. I can just read it, "'It was a bitch,' he says tongue-in-cheek.” No, y'know, I think it's the same for me as it is for anyone else. We all come across beautiful people, interesting people in our lives and I'm no different. So it's the same for me as anyone else.
Henry VIII is totally head over heels for the Boleyn women. As an actor, what do you use to convey that kind of emotion?
BANA: In any film I do, in any character, in any scene, I'm a firm believer in just surrendering myself to the moment. It's all just about what's happening there and then. I tend not to use a whole lot of imagination in those times. I really enjoy pretending that I am that person for real, and... the person doesn't exist on any other level at all. So I just always identified with Henry and I always felt for him. I think we've all behaved like idiots in love, in passion. It was a very easy go-to place for me to justify so much of Henry's behavior... In the throes of passion and all that kinda stuff, we've all made complete dicks of ourselves, and keeping that in mind I think it leaves you very free-spirited. And then, when you've got Scarlett and Natalie to work with -- it's easy.
Scarlett, Eric said you and Natalie seemed like sisters, even when you weren't shooting. Is that true?
JOHANSSON: It was so important for us to maintain the connection even between shooting scenes, that we were kind of with one another, because we were in it together. That kind of shooting experience -- a period piece, in elaborate costumes, on a drafty set -- could feel so isolating. We were shooting on digital film, which was a new process. We were on these big sets and these old castles. Everyone was running around doing 'their' scene, and it was nice for us to be able to just stay in it. It was very interesting. It was really an incredible learning experience. It was hard work, but it paid off hugely. Natalie, being able to watch her performance change, manipulate it and watch her make discoveries in a scene or when she does interesting, it affects me in some way. It was like one-half of a whole character.
Scarlett, how did the period costumes that Mary Boleyn had to wear affect you and your performance?
JOHANSSON: Both Natalie and I had to wear that stuff, and the costumes were a major part of getting into character -- especially as modern women, who are used to moving around freely. So they affect how you move around and how you express yourself, emotionally. As a woman of the time, you feel restricted. And they told us one big thing -- we were warned about big lunches. [laughs] The reason was because you take your costume off for lunch, but you had to pour yourself back into it after lunch. And, if you ate too much, you were in big trouble. So it was always a battle, after lunch. And the costumes, that garb, separates you from the people you want to get next to or even the guy eating a salami sandwich on the set. [laughs] The costumes feel so isolating, when everyone is running around doing their thing. So that was a real learning experience that paid off in the end.
In most history books, why does Henry VIII always look portly and over the hill, but in The Other Boleyn Girl he's good-looking and sexy?
JOHANSSON: That was a later period, during the Catholic problem, and the beheading of Anne (Boleyn). Then he declined, he had illness, and the gout. I read that when he was young, he was one of the most dashing among the royalty. And the rest of the European continent thought so as well. But Eric is an extremely masculine presence. So, I think in that regard, it was fitting casting. And he had the force behind that to intimidate, and feel very powerful.
With your portrayal of Henry VIII in this film and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' in The Tudors series, do you think there's a trend towards making Henry VIII seem like a modern-day rock star? He's virile and sexy and he's lost his portliness -- he's a thin, hunky guy.
BANA: You can't do both? [laughs] A lot of people forget that the younger Henry was very athletic, a very agile young man prior to the classic Holbein image that we have of him. I haven't seen The Tudors, so I don't know what kind of Henry that Jonathan has done. I've seen promos, and it's probably a little more rock and roll than ours. I didn't really have any particular style in mind. For me, I was just playing him as the man that I read. I didn't even feel like I was putting a modern take or any particular take -- I guess I was putting my take on it. But I think I look a little bit like a rock star, don't you? [laughs]