Check out Saoirse Ronan’s accent in Mary Queen of Scots

There are dodgy wigs and even dodgier accents aplenty in the first trailer for Mary Queen of Scots, with Saoirse Ronan playing the ambitious Mary Stuart who begins a rivalry with her cousin to the south, Elizabeth I.

Irish actor Ronan goes full Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with her accent, while Aussie actor Margot Robbie has clearly been working on her cut-glass RP for Queen Elizabeth. Also in the cast, you’ll find Jack Lowden (who recently starred in Michael Powell winner Calibre), Gemma Chan (who’s in the upcoming Crazy Rich Asians), and Ian Hart. Experienced theatre director Josie Rourke helms this 16th-century drama.

There have been a few films about Mary Stuart over the years, but when it comes to high profile movies her rival Elizabeth has received the lion’s share, most notably a pair of epics starring Cate Blanchette (1998’s Elisabeth and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age, from 2007)

Both Ronan and Robbie were vying it out for Best Actress at this year’s Academy Awards for their roles in Lady Bird and I, Tonya respectively. Expect to see them back again next year, as playing UK monarchs tends to go down well with Oscar voters – just ask Judi Dench (who won for Shakespeare in Love as Queen Victoria), Helen Mirren (who won for The Queen as Queen Elizabeth II), and Colin Firth (who won for The King’s Speech as King George V).

Take a look at the trailer in the player above or on YouTube