Tony Winner Janet McTeer Set for Starz's Historical Drama The White Queen

Tony Award winner Janet McTeer has been tapped for Starz's new series The White Queen, according to the Hollywood Reporter. McTeer will play Jacquetta, a fierce sorceress and mother who aids her daughter in a ruthless battle for the English throne.

The White Queen is the first book in author Philippa Gregory’s best-selling series of novels, The Cousins’ War, which follow a trio of women fighting for power during the Wars of the Roses in 15th-century England. The drama has been ordered for a 10-episode season and will co-star Max Irons (Red Riding Hood), James Frain (True Blood; The Homecoming on Broadway), Amanda Hale (The Crimson Petal and The White), Aneurin Bernard (Spring Awakening), David Oakes (The Borgias) and newcomers Rebecca Ferguson and Faye Marsay.

McTeer most recently took the Broadway stage in 2009 in another period piece as Mary, Queen of Scots, in a revival of Mary Stuart (a performance that earned her a Tony Award nomination). In 1997, she won a Tony for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House. McTeer appeared in the original West End cast of God of Carnage and reprised her performance as part of the play's Broadway closing cast in 2010. She earned Academy Award nominations for Albert Nobbs and Tumbleweeds.