'The Serpent Queen': Minnie Driver, 9 others join Season 2

March 6 (UPI) -- Starz is adding 10 new cast members to The Serpent Queen.

The network announced Wednesday that Minnie Driver, Angus Imrie, Emma McDonald, Stanley Morgan and Philippine Velge will appear as series regulars in Season 2 of the historical drama series.

Rosalie Craig, Isobel Jesper Jones, Bill Milner, Ashley Thomas and Alexandre Willaume also will join the show in recurring roles.

The Serpent Queen is based on the Leonie Frieda book, Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France.

The show "tells the story of Catherine de Medici (Samantha Morton), who, against all odds, became one of the most powerful and longest-serving rulers in French history."

Driver will play Queen Elizabeth I, the infamous "Virgin Queen" who "goes toe-to-toe with Catherine and is a woman of style, wit and experience."

Imrie will portray Henry IV, the son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albert, who appears uncivilized to the unobservant observer but in reality, is quite an intellect.

McDonald will join as Catherine's maid, Rahima, who was played by Sennia Nanua in Season 1.

Morgan has been cast as Anjou, the younger brother of King Charles, who is non-conforming and capable of disruptive violence, with Velge to play Margot, Catherine's eldest daughter, who is her polar opposite.

The Serpent Queen Season 2 will premiere this year.