The film stars Saoirse Ronan as the titular monarch, and Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I. The pair never came face-to-face, but corresponded through letters – and the film envisages a scene in which they finally come face-to-face. Director Josie Rourke has explained the thinking behind that moment, and why she chose to create it.
“They emphatically never met,” she told Den of Geek.
“That meeting is based on a gigantic correspondence.”
She added: “Doing it all by letter would make for an incredibly dry film, so that’s an act of imagination based on that correspondence.
“But the other thing is that we are not the first people to do that, as much as I would like to claim that we are.
“It sits in a tradition of great roles for women.”
Rourke went on to praise her two performers for helping bring the charged scene to life.
“Saoirse and Margot really inhabit their roles and that’s exciting to me,” she said.
“They are incredibly intelligent woman but they’re also very physical creatures, and they complement each other’s energy.
“Mary and Elizabeth are two sides of the same coin. There’s a magnetic thing going on – they attract and repel.
“That’s always a powerful energy if you can get that right on screen – and I think they have it.”
Ronan explained on ITV’s This Morning earlier this week why she and Robbie came up with the idea to be kept apart before they shot the scene.
Mary Queen Of Scots is out now.