'This film is about a survivor': Alicia Vikander on playing Katherine Parr

There once was a queen by the name of Catherine Parr. She was the 6th wife of the vengeful King Henry the Eighth. I won't be a patron to heretics. You will kill me like he did my mother. She would never do that to you. Do you hear me? The five wives who came before her all met untimely ends. But Catherine's fate was to change the Kingdom forever. We must rise up and take what is ours. We found Anne preaching to a large group. It is not for those above us to tell us what to believe. The way she spoke, it excited me. Catherine, I pray no one saw you there that day. I believe that I was chosen by God to get the king to change his will. You have to go. If they find you here, we would have to have their head cut off. I'm sure you would come up with something much more creative. Wow. I that was a look at a new film entitled Firebrand. Set in 16th century Tudor England, the film follows Catherine Parr, the Queen of England and 6th wife to the King Henry the Eighth, who was a ruler famous for discarding even beheading his previous wives. Catherine risks her life to operate politically behind the scenes and undermine her husband in an attempt to create a more just world. Joining us now, the Co stars of Firebrand, Academy Award, Golden Globe and Tony nominated actor Jude Law and Academy award-winning actress Alessia Vikander as well as the film's director Kareem Inus. And Kareem, I'll start with you, where it got the camera on you. What drew you to this story to I think you want to bring it to life so vividly? I think it was the fact that there was an incredible story out there about a woman that had never been told. I think there's so many movies about Henry the Eighth and so many movies about the wives that he had killed that had perished under his rule. And I thought Catherine had survived. So I thought there was, it was an important story to tell. So I jumped right into it. And Alessia, what did you learn about this queen, about Catherine Parr? What what was sort of the the part of her soul that you've discovered that drove her to live with such bravery in in such difficult times? I think one of the things that I had no idea about actually when I first picked up the script, I myself kind of realized that I knew maybe the least about this woman that actually did survive out of the wives. And one thing that is remarkable, she was actually the first ever published woman in Britain. That was something that she did during her time. And obviously she even wrote certain texts. I wouldn't have been maybe approved by her husband. But that to me only proved the kind of impact she not only had on him, but also on the on, you know, on the people and the people who wrote her written word. Yeah. Jude Law, you seem crazy in this film just from the trailer that we saw. I mean, whoa. But as we know, all humans are multi dimensional. So I'm curious, in your preparation, in your studies of King Henry the Eighth, what what were some of his more positive qualities? What did you learn about this man? Kareem set a very fair playing field, I think because he was interested in the the the people at the heart of these characters, not the historical figures that that they that they are remembered as. And so for me with Henry, it was important to look back and understand why he behaved the way he did. But to answer your question more specifically, what did I learn about him that I, that was positive? He, he, he, he was responsible for bringing in all sorts of influences of music into England. His court became much more artistic. And there was a time, and this was important to me, there was a time when he was a sort of champion of the arts and he was himself a dancer and a sportsman and, you know, hugely charismatic. And and I had to sort of sit on that at the end of his life, which is the chapter we tell in a way to, to really understand how embittered and angry he is. That in a way, all of that came to naughty, all of that came to this festering toad of a man that we find at the end of his life in the last two months. But in fairness, yeah, he'd started off as quite a glorious Prince king. That was a pretty impressive spin job there. Jude, let me ask you this about a positive spin job on Henry the Eighth. You did it. Yeah, you did it here this morning. But tell us about a little more about why this story might resonate for people watching today. Well, it's about tyranny and power and trying to find truth amidst that and questioning those in power who seem to have a hold over you through fear and championing that through outsmarting them and out thinking them. And then there's another aspect which is about a marriage. A marriage which is one, unfortunately, of abuse and manipulation. And again, I think what Corinne did was really remind us that at its heart, this is a film about a marriage between a man and a woman rather than a king and a queen. And when you look at it like that, you look at them as humans rather than as these sort of figureheads. Alicia, I'm just watching the trailer as we're talking now you this portrays Catherine at the time of Henry's life where he's he's gross, right? He smells terribly bad. His limbs of his leg is rotting. He's he's not the kind of, you know, perhaps macho alpha male that he used to be. How did you conjure up the relationship between the two beyond? I don't I assume that Catherine was given her predecessors unfortunate untimely demise. She may have been a little scared for her life, but you also see these scenes of kind of physical intimacy or some sort of physical intimacy between them. How did you balance that? I think this film is about a survivor. And I think she, you know, obviously stepped into this job, being this wife, knowing what the previous wives had, where they had ended up. So I think she had her kind of task very clear ahead of her and I think she knew that she would had to get close to this man, that she needed him to trust her more than anything. Wow, Kareem, just a few seconds left. But it seems like this is very much about the strength of a woman. Final thoughts on what you hope viewers will take away from Firebrand? I think what would be great is if they kind of see how fibre is relevant today. I think the portrait of Henry is the portrait of a lot of men that we've been seeing the news too often lately. And I think Catherine is such an amazing example of a woman who's been fighting these horrible men from within. So I think it's a very relevant story, particularly this year for many different reasons. So I think that's what I hope comes across when one watches the film. That's not something about the past, but it's also very much about today. Firebrand makes its US premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival tomorrow and opens in theaters nationwide this Friday. Co stars Jude Law, Alicia Vikander, director Kareem Inus. Thank you all so much for coming on and sharing it with us. Congratulations on incredible work That does it for us this morning. Ana Cabrera picks up the coverage right now.