ACCLAIMED ACTOR MAX VON SYDOW CAST FOR SEASON THREE OF SHOWTIME'S "THE TUDORS"

Los Angeles, CA (August 6, 2008) � Acclaimed film actor Max von Sydow has joined the cast of Season 3 of SHOWTIME's critically-acclaimed series THE TUDORS. Sydow will portray Cardinal Von Waldburg, a German-born clergyman who tries to organize the defeat of Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and whose family was killed by Protestant revolutionaries. A fearsome intellectual, he was appointed by the Pope to head his first inquisition, which was the crushing of the Reformation.

Max von Sydow is one of the most iconic European actors of the last century and has worked with legendary director Ingmar Bergman on 13 of his films, but most famously �The Seventh Seal.� American audiences know him best in films as wide ranging as �The Exorcist,� �Hannah and Her Sisters,� and �Minority Report� The Oscar�-, Emmy�- and Golden Globe�-nominated actor will be seen in four of the eight episodes, which is currently filming in Dublin, Ireland, and will premiere on SHOWTIME in 2009.

Viewers and critics alike have been enthralled watching the storied exploits of the sexy, hard-bodied King Henry VIII as he weds, beds and beheads women and wives across 16th century England. Both Rhys Meyers and the series have been nominated for Golden Globe� Awards, and the series has won two Emmys for its incredible costume design and main title theme music. The new season will pick up after Anne Boleyn's beheading, detailing Henry's doomed marriages to true love Jane Seymour and the German-born Anne of Cleves (Joss Stone).

THE TUDORS is an Ireland-Canada co-production, executive produced by Morgan O'Sullivan for Octagon Films; Benjamin Silverman and Teri Weinberg for Reveille Productions; Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan for Working Title Films, and Sheila Hockin; and is created, written and executive produced by Michael Hirst. SHOWTIME presents the series in association with Peace Arch Entertainment.