Henry Viii VIII (Viii) Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander step out for the photo call in support of their new movie Firebrand during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander step out for the photo call in support of their new movie Firebrand during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Firebrand,” a historical drama that follows the marriage of the king and Queen Catherine Parr, his sixth and final wife — played by Alicia Vikander.In order to get into the role, the actor had a repulsive perfume blended from “blood, fecal matter and sweat” specially made to wear while shooting the movie.“I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When his agent first suggested that Karim Aïnouz direct an adaptation of Elizabeth Fremantle’s “Queen’s Gambit,” a historical novel about Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII, he thought she was joking. The Brazilian director of “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão” wasn’t a natural choice to bring 16th century England to life on screen. For one thing, Aïnouz didn’t really know anything about the oft-married monarch. “I could barely identify who Henry VIII was, and I’m not into the monarchy,” he says on the eve of the Cannes premiere of “Firebrand,” the movie he made from Fremantle’s book. “I’m not into British history. I was very puzzled.”

CANNES – Henry VIII was a bad, bad, bad man. The 16th Century King of England notoriously beheaded two of his six wives, divorced another two, and saw another die during childbirth.

Of King Henry VIII’s six wives, his final marriage to Catherine Parr is perhaps the most ignored. The others are rife with tragedy: there are the two he detested the most that he bent the will of God to legalize divorce; there’s Jane Seymour, who died soon after giving birth to an heir; and most notoriously of all, there are the wives he beheaded.

Jude Law wore a horrifying concoction of scents, a pungent blend of “blood, fecal matter and sweat,” to play Henry VIII in “Firebrand,” a historical drama about the final days of the king and his sixth and last wife Katherine Parr. “I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil,” Law said at Monday’s Cannes Film Festival press conference for “Firebrand,” which debuted at the Palais a day prior. “I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful.” So, he went to perfume specialist to create a custom, revolting blend of smells. “She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents. She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter and sweat.”

So, Jude Law, when do you really think of the British monarchy after playing one of the worst kings in history, the wife slaying, Henry VIII, in Firebrand?

Gigi Hadid and Irina Shayk had heads turning at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival this weekend!

Most movies about England’s King Henry VIII like to focus on the mercurial monarch’s failed marriages. His six wives have been collectively described as divorced, died, beheaded, divorced, beheaded, survived. That last one, the little talked-about Katherine Parr, had the distinction of outlasting Henry — their marriage was about four years as he started to succumb to the result of hard living. She was there during that time, but also a wife who if she weren’t so connected to the King easily could have qualified as a feminist. She not only was the first English woman to have a book published, was privately a radical Protestant in an England that had been staunchly Catholic, but also a sharply intelligent woman who had a head on her shoulders and was determined to keep it there.

Alicia Vikander was greeted with an eight-minute standing ovation at the May 21 Cannes premiere of Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand,” from a crowd that included best actress Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Marion Cotillard.With her husband Michael Fassbender beaming on from the row behind, Vikander motioned for the cheering audience to stop or she would cry. But then she gave into the adulation and blew kisses to the upper balconies Vikander’s co-star Jude Law and Aïnouz also got huge applause. Vikander joins a group of Cannes leading ladies including Lily Gladstone, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore who have turned in show-stopping performances.

Cannes Film Festival, Henry (Jude Law) is away in France with his army and Catherine takes the opportunity to ride off to a mossy forest for secret meetings with Anne Askew (Erin Doherty), a childhood friend who is now preaching revolt against a new law that has banned English-language Bibles and returned authority to Latin-reading priests. Compared to her radical friend, Catherine appears to be a cowed, abused wife.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Tudor, or not Tudor. That is the question in “Firebrand,” a revisionist royal portrait of Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr (played here by Alicia Vikander), that features all the pageantry you’d expect from a lavish costume drama, while showing the ahistorical audacity to call “Time’s Up” on the gluttonous king (Jude Law). Never mind that Henry VIII died — of very different causes than the movie depicts — all of 476 years ago. When it comes to art, there’s no statute of limitations on taking toxic masculinity to task, which can be both encouraging (since history has excused no shortage of monsters) and frustrating. There’s a big difference between exposing the truth and rewriting what came before to suit a contemporary political agenda, the way this movie does. Liberally adapted from Elizabeth Fremantle’s fast-and-loose historical fiction “The Queen’s Gambit,” director Karim Aïnouz’s tony British production needn’t try hard to demonstrate that Henry was a notoriously bad husband.

It’s a solemn command from Firebrand’s first assistant director Lydia Currie: “When you bow to the king, bow straight down,” she announces. “Don’t look at him; you’ll get your head cut off.” The fearsome monarch Currie is referring to is Henry VIII, and on this particular day, Jude Law’s king is in an ax-swinging mood. The background artists on Karim Aïnouz’s set comply to orders and stare down at their toes. Before them, seated on thrones arranged on a raised plinth, is the potentate in question, and Katherine Parr, his queen.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International In Britain, schoolchildren learning about Tudor history are taught a handy rhyme to remember the order of King Henry VIII’s six wives: “Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.” Hollywood has for decades been transfixed by the “beheaded” and “died” bits — essentially, the stories about women suffering — but what moviegoers are rarely reminded of is the wife who outlived Henry. In Karim Aïnouz’s hotly anticipated “Firebrand,” it’s the notorious Tudor king’s final companion, Katherine Parr, who finally takes center stage. “What’s mostly been dramatized are the wives who didn’t make it,” says Swedish star Alicia Vikander, who plays the surviving queen opposite Jude Law’s ailing monarch. “[When I read the script] I immediately thought, ‘Huh, isn’t it interesting that most people know more about the other wives.’ It’s almost like people are drawn to quite grim stories.”

Cannes Film Festival isn’t just a hub of red carpet premieres, champagne-drenched parties, and stars, stars, stars. It’s also a vibrant locus of dealmaking, with studio executives, agents and filmmakers descending on the Riviera to secure financing for their upcoming projects or to find a distributor for their latest movies. The 2023 edition is playing host to several compelling packages and potential awards contenders that could spark heated bidding wars. Here are 11 films that could leave buyers reaching for the espresso instead of the rosé as they engage in all-night battles to land the next big thing. Cast: Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Katherine Waterston, Michael Pitt, Mike TysonDirector: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire Agency: CAA, WMEWhy Buyers Care: Penn and Sheridan have crackling chemistry as disgruntled mentor and doe-eyed mentee in the edge-of-your-seat thriller, which takes audiences into the often harrowing, always intense reality for paramedics in New York City. A gentle warning, though, that “Black Flies” isn’t for the squeamish. Expect plenty of blood, disturbing and graphic injuries, extreme violence…and a lot of yelling.

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla have spent the night before their historic Coronation with an intimate dinner at their much-loved Clarence House. The royal couple chose to stay at their favoured London base - rather than monarchy HQ Buckingham Palace - as they prepared for the momentous occasion on Saturday.

We're counting down to the coronation of King Charles III, and what better way to get in the royally right frame of mind to celebrate than taking our fun-filled quiz? You may think you know all about the former Prince of Wales - but do you really know him? Were you aware he loves a spot of watercolour painting, for example? And despite his 'sausage fingers' (his words!) the monarch's dabbling has been good enough to make him one of the most successful living artists in the UK. Our King is also a qualified pilot and diver, even exploring shipwrecks such as King Henry VIII's flagship The Mary Rose.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a first look at Alicia Vikander’s turn as Katherine Parr in the Cannes-bound Firebrand.

Danny Dyer did not hold back as he shared his thoughts on the royal family, and the UK as a whole, in a recent interview, which saw the actor discuss his royal heritage.The former EastEnders star, 45, was left shocked during an episode of Who Do You Think You Are when he discovered he is a direct descendent of the Plantagenet dynasty. Historians on the show uncovered that King Edward III, the first Plantagenet King of England was his 22-times-great-grandfather.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The anticipation is running high at the Cannes Film Festival’s packed annual press conference on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where festival chief Thierry Fremaux is expected to unveil the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition. The festival has been teasing cinephiles with splashy announcements about Martin Scorsese returning to the Croisette with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” 38 years after winning best director with “After Hour,” as well as Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, “Strange Way of Life.” But Fremaux, who is leading the presser with the festival’s new president Iris Knobloch, is expected to have saved a few high-profile surprises, including Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” starring an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton; Todd Haynes’ “May December” with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore; Karim Aïnouz’s Henry VIII drama “Firebrand” with Alicia Vikander and Jude Law; and HBO’s “The Idol,” the Weeknd-led series.

Zendaya and Tom Holland explored a royal palace during a date in London, England this week.

Wednesday evening’s episode, contestant Karen Morris made a bad choice with her bet when it came to the final rounds of the trivia show — and she lost big time.Morris was in the lead with earnings of $21,800, while the other players had scored $7,100 and $6,400.During the Double Jeopardy segment, Morris opted for a huge bet — $10,000 — in an attempt to emerge as the victor of the game.“This artist the younger was working on yet another portrait of Henry VIII when he died in 1543,” host Ken Jennings said in giving her the clue, and the veterinary student, head shaking, struggled to come up with an answer before time ran out.“I’m sorry — Hans Holbein the Younger, the painter,” Jennings said, to which Morris responded in a whisper: “OK.”When it came down to the Final Jeopardy round, the category was “American Novelists,” and the Virginia native had just $11,400 to her name.The clue: “He served with an airman named Yohannan in World War II, and despite what readers might think, he enjoyed his service.”The correct answer was “Catch-22” author Joseph Heller, and Jennings underscored the importance of Morris’ forthcoming response, saying, “She had a big lead before tangling with that last Daily Double — she needs to get Heller her.”Unfortunately, a blank-faced Morris, who had wagered $6,001, wrote Hunter S. Thompson — the “gonzo journalist” known for “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” With a shrug, she unceremoniously dropped to $5,399 and a third-place finish.Fans couldn’t help but scoff and roll their virtual eyes at Morris’ blunder.“Karen Morris might be the dumbest #jeopardy player in history.

A "Jeopardy!" contestant is going viral this week after making what many fans are considering one of the biggest blunders in the show's history. On Wednesday's episode, a woman named Karen had a huge lead over the other two contestants as they neared the end of the second round – she had earned $21,800, while her competitors had earned $7,100 and $6,400. When there were only a few clues left on the Double Jeopardy board, Karen found a Daily Double in the "Hans, Solo" category.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been asked to “vacate” Frogmore Cottage, it has been confirmed. King Charles reportedly wants the Duke and Duchess of Sussex out of the historic home before his Coronation in May.

Stacey Dooley made a surprising revelation during her special recent appearance on Michael McIntyre's Big Show.The TV star took part in Michael's 'Send To All' game, which saw Stacey hand over her phone and Michael send a text message to everyone in her contacts.WATCH: Stacey Dooley shares candid glimpse into parenting life Commenting on her screensaver photo at the start of the segment, Michael noted: "Oh, it's you with your husband!" "Boyfriend!" Stacey interjected. "Yeah, he has been married a few times."She then added, with a laugh, "You know what's funny, and I shouldn't say this but, oh well...

EXCLUSIVE: Disney+ is ready to give the greenlight to an adaptation of CJ Sansom’s bestselling Shardlake novels, depicting an unlikely detective working under Henry VIII’s reign.

Kirkcudbright Rotary Club recently held its annual Youth Speaks event for primary schools.

EXCLUSIVE: Starz has canceled freshman drama Becoming Elizabeth, Deadline has confirmed.