Jude Law wore perfume that smelled like 'blood, fecal matter, and sweat' to play Henry VIII in a new movie
- Jude Law wore a smelly perfume to play Henry VIII in "Firebrand."
- "I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful," he said at a Cannes press conference.
Some actors gain weight for roles. Others change their hair color. Jude Law: he puts on smelly perfume.
The actor revealed for his latest role, playing King Henry VIII, he had a revolting perfume created that he put on while shooting the movie.
"I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away," Law said during the Monday press conference for the movie "Firebrand," according to Variety, which had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival over the weekend.
"His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil," said Law, who discovered the king suffered from a leg ulcer that he dealt with the rest of his life after a jousting accident. "I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful."
"She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents," he said. "She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter, and sweat."
"Firebrand" director Karim Aïnouz added his take on Law's perfume, which the actor admits he started off using lightly on himself, but as the shoot went on it became a "spray fest."
"When he walked in on set it was just horrible," Aïnouz said.
"Firebrand" chronicles the final days of the king and also stars Alicia Vikander as Catherine Parr, his sixth and final wife.