Jude Law Made Perfume Smelling Like ‘Blood, Fecal Matter and Sweat’ For ‘Firebrand’

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 thriller 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 to capture the odor of the king’s infamous leg ulcer. “She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents. She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter and sweat.”

“Firebrand” was greeted at Cannes with an eight-minute standing ovation, which was cut short because Alicia Vikander, who plays Katherine Parr, was motioning for the audience to stop so she wouldn’t cry. Adapted from the 2013 novel “Queen’s Gambit,” the film takes place in blood-soaked Tudor England as Parr outmaneuvers her husband to survive his tumultuous final days on the throne.