William Shakespeare — Anonymous Character Profile

About William Shakespeare

An actor who claims credit for Edward de Vere's plays, extorts him for money, and builds the Globe Theatre to cement his false authorship. He is suspected by Ben Jonson of murdering Christopher Marlowe to protect the secret.

Character Facts

Played by

Rafe Spall

Appears in

Anonymous (2011)

Role

Supporting

Relationships (3)

• William Shakespeare — Conflict Accuser — Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto)

  Jonson directly blames Shakespeare for Marlowe's death.

• William Shakespeare — Conflict Victim — Christopher Marlowe (Trystan Gravelle)

  Marlowe is murdered after uncovering Shakespeare's authorship scheme.

• William Shakespeare — Professional Extortionist — Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans)

  Shakespeare exploits Edward's secret to claim fame and fortune.

Explore the full interactive character relationship map of Anonymous

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• Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans)
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• Prologue (Derek Jacobi)
• Thomas Nashe (Tony Way)
• Pope (Jasper Britton)
• Captain Richard Pole (Julian Bleach)
• Condell (Mark Rylance)
• Interrogator (Ned Dennehy)