Jude Law on Transforming Into King Henry VIII in Firebrand

Talk about committing to a role. In the thriller Firebrand, the great Jude Law wanted to make his performance of the aging Henry VIII so believable that he resorted to unconventional methods. After researching the 16th-century king, infamously known for beheading two of his wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, he discovered that upon returning from war to his sixth wife, Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), his wounds and venous ulcers could not go unnoticed.

“They were so rank that you could smell him from rooms away,” Law told MovieWeb. “It was such an interesting detail that all these poor people, Katherine of course, front and center of that, had to take care of and adore this man because if they didn’t, you know they were going to have their head cut off. And, in fact, he was not just repulsive to be around but repulsive to smell, so, I came up with this awful odor that that I would spray around.”

How the Director Sparked a Brilliant Idea

Firebrand is directed by Karim Aïnouz, whose past films include Love for Sale and Invisible Life. The film puts a revisionist spin on Henry VIII’s sixth and last wife, Katherine, who is portrayed here as a brilliant woman attempting to assure her position as a change agent. Katherine finds herself fighting for her own survival when the king returns from battle, increasingly ill and paranoid. Law went on to credit Aïnouz for helping him morph into a realistic Henry VIII. Hence the odor.

“Our wonderful director… approaches filmmaking in quite a unique way, or certainly unique from my experiences. He really creates a mood, an ambience of authenticity, and it allows him to sort of roam with his camera and capture moments really that [are] off the text. They’re about living in the time or living in the space.”

3:46

Related

Firebrand Director Karim Aïnouz on Jude Law’s ‘Vulnerable Portrait of a Monster’ in His Period Thriller

Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz spoke to MovieWeb about directing Jude Law and Alicia Vikander in his lush period drama Firebrand.

A Super Realistic (and Stinky) Take on King Henry VIII

Firebrand

Firebrand is a historical thriller that follows Katherine Parr, King Henry VIII’s sixth wife, who finds herself in grave danger when her husband returns from an evangelical campaign of carnage and conquest. With her childhood friend accused of treason and executed, Parr fights for survival against a king that continues to veer down the path of a tyrant.

Release Date

June 14, 2024

Director

Karim Ainouz

Runtime

2h

Writers

Henrietta Ashworth , Jessica Ashworth , Rosanne Flynn

Studio(s)

Brouhaha Entertainment , Magnolia Mae Films

Distributor(s)

Neon

Expand

Written by Henrietta Ashworth, Jessica Ashworth, Elizabeth Fremantle, Firebrand surely stands out for Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander’s powerful performance as Parr. But art directors Pilar Foy, Solomon Honey, and Adam Marshall capture the mood of the Tudor period, recalling other period pieces like Amadeus, The Favourite, and Mary Queen of Scots.

Law also shared that Aïnouz’s deep commitment to the project enhanced his own, adding, “We were filming in this extraordinary castle in Derbyshire, so at certain days it was cold in the castle, we’d have fires raging, other days it was very hot because we were in these huge layers of clothes. He talked a lot about [how] they used to clean the rooms with rosemary or thyme, so he provoked this idea of a sensory kind of stimulation.” It pays off. Firebrand is currently playing in theaters. Watch the trailer below.