Jude Law suggests he wouldn’t bow to members of the Royal family
Jude Law has suggested that he would not bow to members of the Royal family.
The star of The Talented Mr Ripley portrays Henry VIII towards the end of his life in Firebrand, the newly released film.
Yet Law, 51, suggested in an interview that he would not bow to members of the Royal family and wavered about describing himself as a monarchist.
“I’m intrigued by their history,” Mr Law said of the Royal family. “But I’ve never been a great believer in treating someone a certain way because they are born under a title.”
When asked whether he considered himself a royalist, the south London-born actor replied: “I don’t know that I am.
“And I don’t know that I want to bow down to anyone, personally,” he told The Sunday Times.
Other stars who have portrayed monarchs on the silver screen have changed their views on the institution. Dame Helen Mirren described herself as having been a “grumpy anti-monarchist” at the time of the 1977 Silver Jubilee, only to say she felt “proud” of Queen Elizabeth II at the time of Her late Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
It comes after the release on Friday of Law’s latest film, Firebrand, in which he plays a 28-stone Henry VIII as the monarch marries his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr, played by Alicia Vikander, the star of Tomb Raider.
Law also said he had gorged himself on “late-night ice cream” in order to portray the morbidly obese king, who by that stage needed nine men to lift him on to his horse.
He also acknowledged the influence of Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced film mogul, on his portrayal of Henry VIII, saying: “I was very aware that Henry symbolises the downfall of many men who soared through life with great success and got drunk on power, abused it and fell. And so Harvey must have crossed my mind.”
Law and Weinstein worked together on Cold Mountain, the 2003 film, which saw the British actor starring opposite Nicole Kidman and Renée Zellweger as a wounded deserter from the Confederate army during the American Civil War.
