Michelle Williams to play Catharine Parr opposite Jude Law as Henry VIII in thriller Firebrand

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    Michelle Williams to play Queen Catharine Parr opposite Jude Law as Henry VIII in thrilled Firebrand about the ‘uber-violent’ king and his last wife


    Actress Michelle Williams, 41, will step into the corset of Queen Catherine Parr for an upcoming thriller about Henry VIII, Deadline reported on Thursday. 

    Jude Law, 48, will play opposite the Oscar winner as the notorious king’s sixth and final wife in Firebrand, ‘a psychological horror tale set in the bloody Tudor court.’

    King Henry VIII ruled England from 1509 to his death in 1547 and is well known all these generations later for his tumultuous six marriages and the annulment of the first which led to the country splitting with the church.

    Royal: Actress Michelle Williams, 41, will step into the corset of Queen Catherine Parr for an upcoming thriller about Henry VIII, Deadline reported on Thursday

    Royal: Actress Michelle Williams, 41, will step into the corset of Queen Catherine Parr for an upcoming thriller about Henry VIII, Deadline reported on Thursday

    Queen Catherine Parr was wed to King Henry VIII in 1543 and was still married to him at the time of his death. 

    She is the only one of his six wives to have survived without losing their lives (or heads in some cases), or being banished.  

    According to Deadline, Firebrand will focus on Catherine’s ‘secret agenda’ to covert Henry to become a Protestant. It will be told from her perspective being psychologically tortured by the King. 

    ‘This a woman who deserves a portrait,’ director Karim Aïnouz told Deadline. ‘There has been much depicted on the king and the wives that perished. It’s important to look at someone who turns out to be stronger than the forces around them. This is a modernistic look at the classic trope of the woman trapped in a castle with a monster.’

    His majesty: Jude Law, 48, will play opposite the Oscar winner as the notorious king's sixth and final wife in Firebrand,'a psychological horror tale set in the bloody Tudor court'

    His majesty: Jude Law, 48, will play opposite the Oscar winner as the notorious king’s sixth and final wife in Firebrand, ‘a psychological horror tale set in the bloody Tudor court’

    Adding: I think it’s important to revisit narratives that have been conveyed as romantic love stories. Henry was a most interesting person, but he was uber-violent, which was in tune with the times.’

    Of Henry’s six wives, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr, two were divorced, two beheaded, one died in child birth and Parr survived.  

    The director revealed that Jude Law will be playing the King at the end of his life differently than the ‘clichéd fat man eating the turkey leg.’

    ‘Jude got how complex this guy was, not a loveable character but as a most powerful man of his time,’ Aïnouz said. 

    'This a woman who deserves a portrait,' director Karim Aïnouz told Deadline.'There has been much depicted on the king and the wives that perished. It's important to look at someone who turns out to be stronger than the forces around them. This is a modernistic look at the classic trope of the woman trapped in a castle with a monster.'

    'This a woman who deserves a portrait,' director Karim Aïnouz told Deadline.'There has been much depicted on the king and the wives that perished. It's important to look at someone who turns out to be stronger than the forces around them. This is a modernistic look at the classic trope of the woman trapped in a castle with a monster.'

    ‘This a woman who deserves a portrait,’ director Karim Aïnouz told Deadline. ‘There has been much depicted on the king and the wives that perished. It’s important to look at someone who turns out to be stronger than the forces around them. This is a modernistic look at the classic trope of the woman trapped in a castle with a monster.’ (Catherine Parr, left; Henry VIII, right)

    The filmmaker immediately wanted Michelle Williams for the role of ‘ferociously brilliant, enlightened’ Catherine Parr having loved her acting in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain. 

    ‘Firebrand is the opportunity to present to larger audiences the moving portrait of a unique character in history, surprisingly untouched on the big screen until now. The story will follow the last months of Catherine Parr’s survival as Queen of England, consequently the last months of Henry VIII’s life as King,’ Aïnouz said in a letter. 

    The story of Henry VIII has been immortalized on screen many times over the years. 

    Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers famously played the royal Lothario for four seasons on Showtimes drama The Tudors.

    King: Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers famously played the royal Lothario for four seasons on Showtimes drama The Tudors

    King: Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers famously played the royal Lothario for four seasons on Showtimes drama The Tudors

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