Serpent Queen Trailer: A Classic French Tale Gets Modern Twist

The Queen of France has never been this cool.

Samantha Morton stars as Catherine de Medici (a.k.a. France’s queen from 1547 to 1559) in the edgy trailer for The Serpent Queen, premiering Sept. 11 on STARZ.

Over some pop-punk music, Catherine begins to tell her side of things. “My story begins when I was a young girl,” she says. “I was alone in the world. My first impression of my fellow man was less than favorable.”

Her uncle Pope Clement, played by Games of Thrones‘ Charles Dance, is quick to inform young Catherine that her life is not in her own hands. 

“It doesn’t matter what you want,” he tells her. “Your marriage has been arranged.”

However, once Catherine finds her new husband, Henri, the Duke of Orléans, cheating on her with Diane de Poitiers (Ludivine Sagnier) on their wedding night, she recognizes she must fight to carve out a name for herself.

“It was my time to govern,” she explains. “The only way I knew how.”