There’s an air of intrigue to royalty, and for long, filmmakers have been obsessed with the early monarchs. One ruler that has often fascinated storytellers is Queen Elizabeth I. From Shekhar Kapur’s `Elizabeth` (1998) featuring Cate Blanchett, to the 2007 television series, `The Tudors`, and Anne Boleyn featuring Jodie Turner-Smith, the queen’s life has been captured through different lenses. The latest to join the list is `Becoming Elizabeth`. The Lionsgate Play series focuses on the early years of Elizabeth Tudor, an orphaned teenager who becomes embroiled in the politics of the English court on her journey to secure the crown.

Alicia von Rittberg starts the conversation by admitting that being a German, she was surprised to receive a call to play the British queen. “In the beginning, I was tapping into the traditional way of portraying the queen or a princess — well-behaved, smart, and outspoken. Once I spoke to Anya [Reiss, creator], I realised how much I only looked at the person and forgot about the cold world she grew up in,” says Rittberg, adding that constant conversations with director Justin Chadwick helped her delve deep into the character. “She grew up in the countryside. Despite her free-spirited nature, she was an orphan brought up with [a sense of] duty and rigid instructions. That was something I didn’t see [earlier].”