Alicia Vikander, Jude Law on playing Katherine Parr and Henry VIII in ‘Firebrand’

Katherine Parr takes center stage in Firebrand, the new period drama in theaters now. Alicia Vikander plays the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII in the film, and she told ABC Audio what it was like to tell her story.

“I think it’s nice that we focus on the person who actually did survive,” Vikander said. “I think that it’s almost been more films and TV series that have focused on the other wives. I felt I probably knew the least about Katherine Parr, and I was kind of amazed when I read the script the first time and also even realized that she was actually the first ever published woman in British history.”

Jude Law took on the role of the famous king, and he said he found the character through wardrobe.

“I tried to look at shapes and silhouettes of the guy. So, the shape of his head and his jaw and the beard. The clothes help a lot because we’re wearing these enormous and layered outfits. They kind of wore their fortune on them, so everything was gold and jeweled,” Law said.

Director Karim Aïnouz said Law “brought a vulnerability to a monster that I think is something that not every actor can do.”

As for what made Aïnouz know Vikander would make the perfect Katherine Parr, he said her acting talent was obvious, “but there’s also something very modern about her.”

“I thought it would be an interesting contrast. When you think of Katherine Parr, you think hundreds of years ago and so on,” Aïnouz continued. “I thought it was very important to have a body and a face and a soul which was a very modern soul. And I was also very intrigued by having an English queen being played by a Swedish actress.”