Fat Henry to remain a svelte hottie in BBC series
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Henry the Underweighth
The famously fat monarch Henry VIII is to remain radically slimmed down in the BBC drama in order to retain his sex appeal.
Gormenghast and Velvet Goldmine star Jonathan Rhys Myers, who plays the ageing king in the planned fourth series The Tudors, shown on BBC2, will neither be expected to wear a fat suit, nor will he have to stuff himself with food to bulk up for the role. The real Henry VIII was estimated to weigh around 20st with a waist of 54 inches when he died in 1547. By the end of his life he was so overweight that he could walk only a few meters unsupported.
However, the makers of The Tudors are more concerned with having an actor who is attractive to audiences than an accurate physical representation of the obese Henry.
“We still want him to be appealing,” said Morgan O’Sullivan, an executive producer on the show.
“We don’t want to destroy his good looks. An exact portrayal of Henry is not a factor that we think is important. We are not in the business of making Johnny look like Henry VIII. We have accepted that from day one. We have been criticised for not casting someone with red hair. But you either cast him exactly like Henry VIII, or you choose to deal with it differently.
“We chose from the start to have him looking fit. So there will never be a fat suit. That would be unreal.”
Jonathan Rhys Myers agreed, arguing that actors “are not famous because they’re plug-ugly”.
The makers of The Tudors have already been accused of messing with history, since virtually every episode has included some fairly major historical inaccuracy, such as the women’s costumes which are about 100 years out of date, or Henry’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy who dies at the age of six – he was actually 17 and married when he passed away; Henry’s sister is called Margaret in the series, but her character is based on Henry’s older sister Mary; and Archbishop Thomas Wolesley, played by Sam Neill, commits suicide in the series, whereas he in fact died of natural causes in Leicester, on his way to London where he was to be tried for treason.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Henry VIII started out a slim, fit king until the years of indulgence took their toll. I was hoping to see Rhys Meyers becoming fatter as the series’ progressed, and have him throwing chicken bones over his shoulder.
‘Enry the Eighth ‘E Ain’t.