Roland Emmerich: Why Shakespeare Is A Fraud

Roland Emmerich leaves behind the big budget blockbusters such as Independence Day and 2012 as he tackles a period piece for his new movie.

Yes Anonymous sees the filmmaker go down a very different path as he looks at the world of Elizabethan England and the life of Shakespeare.

And the question asks one simple question... was Shakespeare a fraud?

Well Emmerich seems to think that there is quite a strong case supporting the idea that Shakespeare did not write the works that he is famous for.

Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare?

The movie is based on the idea that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays; set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her.

Rhys Ifans leads an all star cast that also includes Vanessa Redgrave, Rafe Spall, David Thewlis, Jamie Campbell Bower and Joely Richardson.

Anonymous is released 28th October.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw