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Despite its lack of historical precision, Shakespeare in Love remains one of cinema's most enchanting love stories. Released in 1998, this film dominated the Oscars the next year, portraying a creatively blocked William "Will" Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and his journey to penning the timeless romance, Romeo and Juliet.
The film's narrative, which imagines Will falling for the fictional Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), a wealthy merchant's daughter who inspires his masterpiece, is a work of fiction. However, many characters in the movie are rooted in history. As co-screenwriter Tom Stoppard aptly put it, the film prioritizes storytelling over factual accuracy.
"This movie is meant to entertain," Stoppard explained to The New York Times in 1998, "and doesn't need to align with historical accuracy to be valid."
That said, Shakespeare in Love does contain some genuine historical tidbits, despite its fictional nature. The film, which grossed over $300 million globally, remains a lavish Elizabethan-era romantic comedy. As it marks its 20th anniversary, here are 12 lesser-known facts about this celebrated movie.
1. It created a monumental Oscar surprise.
Considered one of the most shocking upsets in Academy Awards history, Shakespeare in Love clinched the Best Picture award in 1999, beating Steven Spielberg's WWII epic, Saving Private Ryan. While Spielberg won Best Director and Saving Private Ryan took home five Oscars, Shakespeare in Love triumphed with seven, including Best Actress for Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola de Lesseps, Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I, and Best Original Screenplay for Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.
2. Judi Dench won an Oscar with under 10 minutes of screen time.
Despite appearing only three times in Shakespeare in Love, Dame Judi Dench's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I was unforgettable. Her eight-minute performance earned her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, though she humorously acknowledged its brevity. Some argue her win was a consolation prize after she was overlooked for Best Actress the previous year for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown.
3. The actresses portraying Dench's ladies-in-waiting in Shakespeare in Love also served as her attendants in Mrs. Brown.
Finding reliable help seems challenging, whether in the 1500s or the 1800s: Bridget McConnell and Georgie Glen acted as Judi Dench's courtiers in both Shakespeare in Love and Mrs. Brown. In Shakespeare in Love, they were credited as anonymous "ladies in waiting" to Queen Elizabeth I. In Mrs. Brown, McConnell was named "Lady Ely" and Glen as "Lady Churchill," attending Dench's Queen Victoria. This dual casting was no accident, as both films were directed by John Madden.
4. Jim Carter, known for his role as butler Carson in
Downton Abbey
, also portrayed a servant in
Shakespeare in Love
.
Jim Carter, immortalized as the loyal butler Carson in Downton Abbey, played the fictional actor Ralph Bashford in Shakespeare in Love. During that era, women were barred from the stage, so male actors like Ralph had to assume female roles. Carter’s character portrayed Juliet’s Nurse in the final staging of Romeo and Juliet, dropping his exaggerated falsetto upon discovering Gwyneth Paltrow’s Viola had taken on the role of Juliet unlawfully.
Here’s another intriguing detail: Carter’s real-life spouse, Imelda Staunton, played Viola’s Nurse, the character who inspired the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. Both Carter’s and Staunton’s performances are showcased in the clip above.
5. Several characters in the film are based on actual historical figures.
While Shakespeare in Love is a work of fiction, many characters, aside from William Shakespeare, were real historical figures. These include his rival Christopher Marlowe (Rupert Everett), Queen Elizabeth I, and Elizabethan-era actors Richard Burbage (Martin Clunes) and Ned Alleyn (Ben Affleck). Affleck once described Alleyn as "the Tom Cruise of his time," highlighting his star status.
Geoffrey Rush’s portrayal of the eccentric, debt-ridden theater manager Philip Henslowe might seem like a creation of Tom Stoppard’s imagination (known for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead), but Henslowe was a real person. His diaries suggest he was as peculiar as the film depicts.
6. PRINCE EDWARD, QUEEN ELIZABETH II’S YOUNGEST SON, REQUESTED A TITLE INSPIRED BY COLIN FIRTH’S CHARACTER.
When Prince Edward married in 1999, Queen Elizabeth II initially planned to grant him the title Duke of Cambridge (later given to Prince William in 2011). However, as reported by The Telegraph in 2010, Edward chose to become the Earl of Wessex after watching Shakespeare in Love and noticing Colin Firth’s character, "Lord Wessex." The prince simply liked the name, though there’s no evidence he admired Firth’s arrogant nobleman. Today, Edward and his wife, Sophie, are known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
7. Lord Wessex took his bride to a non-existent colony.
Spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the movie: Will and Viola don’t end up together. Instead, Paltrow’s character fulfills her duty by marrying the detestable Lord Wessex and agreeing to join him on his tobacco plantation in Virginia. However, there’s a glaring issue: Shakespeare in Love is set in 1593, and the first American colony wouldn’t be founded for another 14 years. Then again, it’s fitting that someone as clueless as Lord Wessex would plan to move to a place that didn’t yet exist.
8. The film’s cast starred in an educational video about Shakespeare.
Students in the late 1990s with progressive teachers might recall watching an educational video featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Dame Judi Dench, Ben Affleck, and Geoffrey Rush discussing William Shakespeare. Titled "Shakespeare in the Classroom," the video used scenes from Shakespeare in Love to illustrate life during the Bard’s era.
9. The film is filled with nods to various Shakespearean works.
Before Will starts writing Romeo and Juliet, he hears a minister exclaim, "a plague on both your houses!"—a line later made famous by Mercutio. Other Shakespearean references include Hamlet (Will throws a crumpled paper at a skull), Twelfth Night (Viola’s name and cross-dressing hint at the inspiration for the comedy), and "Sonnet 18" (Will compares Viola to "a summer’s day").
10. PALTROW REVEALS HER BREAKUP WITH BRAD PITT NEARLY LOST HER THE OSCAR-WINNING ROLE OF VIOLA DE LESSEPS.
In a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Pwyneth Paltrow shared that she initially declined the role of Viola de Lesseps due to emotional turmoil following her split from Brad Pitt. She admitted to being "very sad" and initially refusing to work. However, Miramax producer Paul Webster convinced her to audition, leading to her eventual Oscar win.
11. The boy who uncovers Viola’s disguise is the future playwright John Webster.
In Shakespeare in Love, Viola de Lesseps disguises herself as male actor Thomas Kent to bypass the ban on women performing onstage. Her ruse is exposed by a mischievous, rat-loving street boy named John Webster, who later becomes famous for his dark plays like The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil.
Early in the film, young Webster’s love for gore is hinted at when Will asks his opinion of Titus Andronicus. The boy replies, "I like it when they cut the heads off … And the daughter mutilated with knives … Plenty of blood. That's the only writing."
12. The movie offers a fictional exploration of Shakespeare’s activities during his mysterious "Lost Year."
Co-writers Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard had significant creative freedom because little is documented about Shakespeare’s life between 1585 and 1592. (This gap is also highlighted in the educational video featuring the Shakespeare in Love cast, which notes that aside from key events like his marriage and death, few details about the playwright’s life are known.)
"The beauty is that the lack of historical records means you’re not constrained by facts," director John Madden explained to The New York Times in 1998.
This article originally appeared in 2016.
