Inside Wolf Hall star Mark Rylance's life from trouble talking to sudden family tragedies

Wolf Hall season two is on the way with most of its original cast back for more, including Thomas Cromwell star Mark Rylance.

Delving into the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII during the 16th Century, Wolf Hall has been away for nine years and will be back to pick up from where it left off this weekend.

Ahead of the historical drama’s return, fans are eager to know more about 64-year-old Rylance’s life away from the small screen.

Speech troubles

Born in January 1960 as Mark Waters, Kent, Rylance was one of two sons to teachers who moved to America when he was two.

He grew up in Milwaukee but wasn’t able to speak properly until he was six, with reportedly only his brother able to understand his “unintelligible” noises.

He told Desert Island Discs that his inability to speak helped his acting career as “from the very early part of my life I had listened and watched a lot”.

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He said: “I think there is evidence for consciousness that is not limited by our physical nature.

“Whether some part of me had some intimation that I might one day get out in front of 2,500 people at the Palace Theatre and say ‘to be or not to be’ and keep my nerve with such famous words, [American psychologist James Hillman] would propose that my young soul knew that and was terrified and was doing everything to avoid that fate.”

Early career

The star moved back to London when he was a teenager to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and changed his surname to Rylance as Waters was taken by another actor.

He went on to star in Hearts Of Fire, Screen Two, Leonardo, Intimacy and The Other Boleyn Girl, just to name a few.

It was then in 2015 that he landed the iconic role of Thomas Cromwell for the first season of Wolf Hall, alongside the likes of Damian Lewis, Claire Foy and Jessica Raine.

After the show’s success, he went on to star in a number of high profile films like Bridge Of Spies, The BFG, Dunkirk and The Outfit.

Abuse

While Rylance hasn’t opened on specifics, he did tell Positive News that he had “trauma”, because of people or a person “dominating and abusing” him and they “didn’t want me to be more conscious” of this.

He added: “I was a victim of abuse, yes, and now I am a survivor of abuse.

“In schools, childhood, work, you may experience many levels of abuse.

“Part of the abuse can convince you not to look at it. But don’t be frightened of it, be respectful. You’re going into a tiger cage.”

Famous wife

The Wolf Hall actor is married to director, composer and playwright Claire van Kampen who he met in 1987 while working on a production of The Wandering Jew at the National Theatre.

They married in Oxfordshire in December 1989 and while he has no biological children, he became a stepfather to her two daughters actress and producer Juliet Rylance and filmmaker Nataasha van Kampen.

Family tragedy

Twelve years ago, the actor’s stepdaughter Nataasha died aged 28 of a suspected brain haemorrhage during a flight from New York.

Then a decade later, Rylance’s brother Jonathan, who resided in California, was killed by a car while riding a bicycle.

He described grift as “a hollowing out … this empty space where there was a whole lot of fun and expectations” to Positive News.

However, he sees the “spiritual presence” of his loved ones as a “very, very positive one”.

“I have really synchronistic, extraordinary experiences of my daughter’s presence around me.

“They stay with you. So they’re not necessarily abandoned. You have to think: ‘where’s the positive? What is the positive step forward?’”

Wolf Hall season two premieres on Sunday, November 10, at 9pm on BBC One.