Anonymous is a 2011 political thriller and historical drama film. Directed by Roland Emmerich and written by John Orloff, the movie is a fictionalized version of the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, poet and patron of the arts. It stars  Rhys Ifans as de Vere and Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I of England.