Cate Blanchett
Elizabeth I

Joseph Fiennes
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester

Geoffrey Rush
Sir Francis Walsingham

Christopher Eccleston
Duke of Norfolk

John Gielgud
The Pope

Richard Attenborough
Sir William Cecil

Fanny Ardant
Mary of Guise

Éric Cantona
Monsieur de Foix

Vincent Cassel
Duc d'Anjou

Kathy Burke
Queen Mary Tudor

Edward Hardwicke
Earl of Arundel

Emily Mortimer
Kat Ashley

James Frain
Alvaro de la Quadra

Kelly Macdonald
Isabel Knollys

Kenny Doughty
Sir Thomas Elyot

Daniel Craig
John Ballard

Alfie Allen
Arundel's Son

Jamie Foreman
Earl of Sussex

Lily Allen
Lady in Waiting

Amanda Ryan
Lettice Howard

Kate Loustau
Lady in Waiting

Daniel Moynihan
First Bishop

Jeremy Hawk
Second Bishop

Daisy Bevan
Arundel's Daughter

Hayley Burroughs
Lady in Waiting

Angus Deayton
Waad, Chancellor of the Eschequer

Joseph O'Conor
Earl of Derby

Brendan O'Hea
Lord William Howard

Tim Bevan
Handsome Man

George Antoni
King Philip II of Spain

Wayne Sleep
Dance Tutor

Jean-Pierre Léaud
(uncredited)

Jocelyn Quivrin
French Guard (uncredited)

Matthew Rhys
(uncredited)

Christian Simpson
Royal Guard (uncredited)