''Attila'' (also known as ''Attila the Hun'' in the UK) is a 2001 American television miniseries set during the waning days of the Western Roman Empire, in particular during the invasions of the Huns in Europe.
Synopsis
The narrative of the miniseries primarily follows
Attila the Hun
Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central and East ...
(reigned 434–453) during his rise to power, violent unification of the Hunnic tribes, and subsequent campaigns, first against the
Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
, and later against the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...
and the
Western Roman Empire
In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...
.
A parallel narrative follows Roman general
Flavius Aetius
Flavius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 21 September 454) was a Roman Empire, Roman general and statesman of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most inf ...
, Attila's primary antagonist, who works vigorously to keep the Western Empire intact despite factional politics, a weak emperor, and a steady stream of barbarian invasions.
Cast
*
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never ...
as
Attila
Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...
**
Rollo Weeks as Young Attila
*
Powers Boothe
Powers Allen Boothe (June 1, 1948 – May 14, 2017) was an American actor known for his commanding character actor roles on film and television. He received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
He won ...
as
Flavius Aetius
Flavius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 21 September 454) was a Roman Empire, Roman general and statesman of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most inf ...
*
Simmone Jade Mackinnon
Simmone Jade Mackinnon (born 19 March 1973) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Allie Reese on ''Baywatch Hawaii'' (1999–2000) and Stevie Hall on ''McLeod's Daughters'' (2003–2009).
Early life
Mackinnon was born in M ...
as N'Kara /
Ildico
*
Reg Rogers
Reg Rogers (born December 23, 1964) is an American stage, film, and television actor, known for his roles in '' Primal Fear'' and '' Runaway Bride'' and for the TV miniseries ''Attila''. He also appears in theater, both on Broadway and Off-Bro ...
as
Valentinian III
Valentinian III (; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the Western Roman Empire, West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful general ...
*
Alice Krige
Alice Maud Krige (; born June 28, 1954) is a South African actress and producer. Her big break came in 1981, when she starred as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon in the British historical film ''Chariots of Fire'', and as Eva Gall ...
as
Placidia
Placidia () was a 5th-century Roman noblewoman and briefly empress in the Western Roman Empire. Her father was Valentinian III, Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. In 455, shortly after her marriage to Olybrius, she was captured by Gaiser ...
*Pauline Lynch as Galen
*
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director.
As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style known as "Be ...
as
Rua
*
Andrew Pleavin
Andrew Pleavin (born 13 April 1968) is an English actor known for his appearances in the TV film ''Attila'', ''Unstoppable'', ''Batman Begins'', '' Attack of the Gryphon'', '' Return to House on Haunted Hill'' and his roles in the British pol ...
as
Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...
*
Tommy Flanagan Thomas or Tom Flanagan may refer to:
* Thomas Flanagan (bishop) (1930–2019), American Roman Catholic bishop
* Thomas Flanagan (Irish politician) (died 1980), Irish civil engineer and politician
* Thomas Flanagan (priest) (1814–1865), English Ro ...
as
Bleda
Bleda () was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun. As nephews to Rugila, Attila and his elder brother Bleda succeeded him to the throne. Bleda's reign lasted for eleven years until his death. While it has been speculated by Jordanes th ...
*
Kirsty Mitchell as
Honoria
*
Jonathan Hyde
Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King (born 21 May 1948), known professionally as Jonathan Hyde, is an Australian actor. Hyde is perhaps best known for roles as Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the comedy film '' Richie Rich'' (1994), Samuel Parrish ...
as
Flavius Felix
*
Tim Curry
Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 L ...
as
Theodosius II
Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...
*
Janet Henfrey
Janet Ethne Anne Henfrey (born 16 August 1935) is a British stage and television actress whose career has spanned over 50 years. A familiar face on stage and screen since the 1960s starring in a variety of British Television favourites. She is ...
as Palcharia
*
Liam Cunningham as
Theodoric I
Theodoric I (; ; 390 or 393 – 20 or 24 June 451) was the king of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. Theodoric is famous for his part in stopping Attila the Hun at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, where he was killed.
Early career
In 41 ...
*
Richard Lumsden as
*
Mark Letheren
Mark Vincent Letheren (born 6 February 1971) is an English actor.
He is known for his roles as journalist Simon Kitson in ITV's drama ''The Bill'', as Ben Harding in the BBC One drama ''Casualty'' and for his recurring role as DS Kevin Geoffri ...
as
Thorismund
Thorismund (also Thorismod or Thorismud, as manuscripts of the chief source confusingly attestJordanes, ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''Getica'') 81, 174, 190, 201 and elsewhere.) ( 420–453), became king of the Visigoths after his father ...
*
Jolyon Baker as
Mundzuk
*
David Bailie as The Shaman
*
Isla Fisher
Isla Lang Fisher (; born 3 February 1976) is an Australian actress. Born in Oman to Scottish parents with whom she moved to Australia during her childhood, she began appearing in television commercials and came to prominence for her portrayal o ...
as Cerca
Home media
The miniseries was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
November 5, 2002 by Universal.
See also
*
List of historical drama films This is an index of lists of historical films.
By country of origin
* List of Estonian war films
* List of Polish war films
* List of Romanian historical films
* List of Russian historical films
* List of Vietnamese historical films
By er ...
*
List of films set in ancient Rome
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attila (Tv Miniseries)
2001 American television series debuts
2001 American television series endings
2000s American television miniseries
Cultural depictions of Attila the Hun
Cultural depictions of Flavius Aetius
Fiction about fratricide
Television dramas set in ancient Rome
Television series set in the 5th century
Works set in the Byzantine Empire
Television series set in the Roman Empire
Works set in 5th-century Roman Empire
Television shows filmed in Lithuania
Valentinian III