Passes the Bechdel test
The Other Boleyn Girl
2008. Directed by Justin Chadwick, written by Peter Morgan and Philippa Gregory.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 203. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson), driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII (Eric Bana).
- Released
- 29 Feb 2008
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 50 / 100
- Awards
- 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mary 189 lines, woman
- Anne 178 lines, woman
- Henry 142 lines, man
- Sir Thomas 80 lines, man
- George 38 lines, man
- Norfolk 34 lines, man
- Stafford 24 lines, man
- Enry 20 lines, man
- William 18 lines, man
- Lady Elizabeth 14 lines, woman
Full cast, 30 people
- Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn
- Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn
- Eric Bana as Henry Tudor
- Jim Sturgess as George Boleyn
- Mark Rylance as Sir Thomas Boleyn
- Kristin Scott Thomas as Lady Elizabeth Boleyn
- David Morrissey as Thomas Howard - Duke of Norfolk
- Benedict Cumberbatch as William Carey
- Oliver Coleman as Henry Percy
- Ana Torrent as Katherine of Aragon
- Eddie Redmayne as William Stafford
- Juno Temple as Jane Parker
- Iain Mitchell as Thomas Cromwell
- Andrew Garfield as Francis Weston
- Mark Lewis Jones as Brandon
- Michael Smiley as Physician
- Montserrat Roig de Puig as Lady in Waiting
- Alfie Allen as King's Messenger
- Corinne Galloway as Jane Seymour
- Tom Cox as Rider
- Joanna Scanlan as Midwife
- Emma Noakes as Maid
- Maisie Smith as Young Elizabeth
- Daisy Doidge-Hill as Young Anne
- Tiffany Freisberg as Mary Talbot
- Bill Wallis as Archbishop Cranmer
- Joseph Moore as Young Henry
- Constance Stride as Mary Tudor
- Brodie Judge as Young Catherine
- Finton Reilly as Young George
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 203
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | 6 | 9 |
| 6 to 10 | 24 | 22 |
| 11 to 15 | 4 | 10 |
| 16 to 20 | 9 | 22 |
| 21 to 25 | 4 | 9 |
| 26 to 30 | 11 | 20 |
| 31 to 35 | 11 | 11 |
| 36 to 40 | 30 | 7 |
| 41 to 45 | 3 | 6 |
| 46 to 50 | 16 | 20 |
| 51 to 55 | 30 | 36 |
| 56 to 60 | 7 | 29 |
| 61 to 65 | 5 | 11 |
| 66 to 70 | 1 | 9 |
| 71 to 75 | 3 | 5 |
| 76 to 80 | 16 | 29 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 3 |
| 86 to 90 | 2 | 2 |
| 91 to 95 | 9 | 11 |
| 96 to 100 | 24 | 12 |
| 101 to 105 | 2 | 6 |
| 106 to 110 | 16 | 17 |
| 111 to 115 | 7 | 7 |
| 116 to 120 | 2 | 4 |
| 121 to 125 | 10 | 9 |
| 126 to 130 | 20 | 3 |
| 131 to 135 | 9 | 9 |
| 136 to 140 | 6 | 3 |
| 141 to 145 | 31 | 9 |
| 146 to 150 | 11 | 5 |
| 151 to 155 | 31 | 7 |
| 156 to 160 | 2 | 1 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 0 |
| 166 to 170 | 2 | 2 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 0 |
| 176 to 180 | 4 | 2 |
| 181 to 185 | 7 | 8 |
| 186 to 190 | 3 | 3 |
| 191 to 195 | 9 | 12 |
| 196 to 200 | 22 | 2 |
| 201 to 203 | 1 | 1 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
ANNE: May we come in..? ANNE: Look at you..! Younger than me. More beautiful than me. Married before me. I am eclipsed. I am just the `Other Boleyn Girl.' MARY: Hardly.
ANNE: Are you nervous? MARY: A little. ANNE: You'll tell me everything in the morning? MARY: I promise.
ANNE: I am forever in your debt. MARY: You owe me nothing, sister. I did it that we may finally draw a line beneath everything that has happened between us. ANNE: hen let it be exactly that. A new start between us. Here at court. MARY: Thank you. But I'd rather go back to our home in the country.
MARY: So, it's true. It's really happening? ANNE: Yes, it is. Stay with me, please? I need my sister by me side.
MIDWIFE: And again, one more.. MIDWIFE: It's done, your Majesty..! MARY: Well done... ANNE: And..?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 51 are women's.
410 lines from women, 393 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 15 men in the cast. 8 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 846.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 27 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 49% of the words (4,072), men 51% (4,221). Women have 51% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
31
Two men
24
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Justin Chadwick (man)
- Written by
- Peter Morgan (man)
- From the novel by
- Philippa Gregory (woman)
- Produced by
- Alison Owen (woman), T. Rafael Cimino (man)
- Shot by
- Kieran McGuigan (man)
- Edited by
- Paul Knight (man), Carol Littleton (woman)
- Music by
- Paul Cantelon (man)
- Production design by
- John Paul Kelly (man)
- Costumes by
- Sandy Powell (woman)
- Cast by
- Karen Lindsay-Stewart (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
2 women, 7 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 11 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Scarlett Johansson 23, Natalie Portman 26, Ana Torrent 41, Kristin Scott Thomas 47
Men
Oliver Coleman 24, Jim Sturgess 29, Benedict Cumberbatch 31, Eric Bana 39, David Morrissey 43, Mark Rylance 48
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $78.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 203 scenes and 846 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
