From lover to royal mistress

She is the toast of Hollywood after playing opposite George Clooney in the remake of sci-fi classic Solaris. But Natascha McElhone is equally impressive on the small screen in the BBC's latest costume drama.

From tomorrow, British cinemagoers can see her in Solaris - Steven Soderbergh's remake of a 1972 Soviet film - as a dead wife who comes back to haunt her psychologist husband

In the Beeb's forthcoming film, The Other Boleyn Girl, the London-born actress plays Mary Boleyn - who had a passionate affair with King Henry VIII before he dumped her for her glamorous older sister Anne.

McElhone, 31, said: "It was a great project to do because there was no script, just a synopsis. I loved that improvisational approach."

Producer Ruth Caleb said the film would explore the way aristocratic families used their daughters as bargaining tools for favours from the King.

Mary was only 14 when she was forced out of her existing marriage by her ambitious family to become the mistress of the King. Initially horrified by the prospect, she quickly fell in love with him and became his mistress. However, while she was pregnant and in confinement, Anne caught his attention.

The promiscuous exploits of six-times-married Henry are well-documented, but the story of Mary Boleyn is little known.

Although not historically accurate, the BBC drama, based on a novel by Philippa Gregory, is inspired by fact. The King will be played by Jared Harris, son of the late Richard Harris. Daniel Deronda star Jodhi May will play Anne.

But the next big role for McElhone, who lives in Notting Hill with her surgeon husband Martin Kelly, will be off-screen, as a mother. She is five months pregnant.