Firebrand: Jude Law makes perfume of pus, blood, feces and sweat to play the monarch Henry VIII

At the Cannes Film Festival this year, jud law debuted as the monarch Henry VIII in firebrand (2023), which reproduces the final marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine Parr. To immerse himself in his character, the actor admitted to ordering a bespoke perfume that mixes “blood, fecal material and sweat”.

“I read several interesting reports that at this time you could smell Henry VIII three rooms away,” the actor recalled. “His leg was rotting badly. And he hid it with rose oil. So I thought it would have a big impact if I smelled bad.”

For the fragrance, Law hired an expert perfumer who, according to the actor, creates “wonderful scents”, but also “horrible scents”. The actor initially wore the scent “subtly” and thought he’d keep it just for himself… until the director Karim Ainouz witnessed his preparation.

After having its immersive approach revealed, Law It is Alicia Vikanderwho plays Henry’s sixth and final wife, Catharina Parrbegan sharing anecdotes of staff members retching from the stink.

Although Aïnouz agreed that when Law walked onto the set “it was just awful”, he also admitted to spraying the rooms with the perfume when everyone went out to eat because the awful smell was “amazing” and triggered real expressions in the actors.

firebrand received an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes. In the world of film festival standing ovations, that’s pretty good: it’s more than the seven minutes to the return of Johnny Depp in Jeanne du Barry (2023), but less than the nine of Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).