Thomas More

Thomas More appears as Henry's formidable Lord Chancellor: a scholar and devout Catholic whose wit can turn cutting in an instant. He prizes his own conscience and orthodoxy above compromise, treats Cromwell with a needling condescension, and pursues heretics with a zeal that unsettles even his allies.

Anton Lesser refuses to make More a simple villain or martyr — he's charming, learned, and genuinely pious, which makes his cruelty toward dissenters land harder than caricature ever could. The performance holds his self-righteousness and his real intelligence in tension, so you understand exactly why Cromwell both respects and dreads him.