Jude Law Learned the Harpsichord to Play Henry VIII

The 2023 film, Firebrand was heavily criticized for its departures from history. There is at least one aspect that is certainly authentic, however: Jude Law's harpsichord playing.

The film was based on Elizabeth Fremantle's 2013 novel, Queen's Gambit, and is set in the final years of Henry VIII and Katherine Parr's marriage, roiled by the religious firebrand, Anne Askew. About half an hour into the film, the King, played by Law, sits at the harpsichord and plays the tune, Pastime with Good Company. Law revealed that rather than relying on a professional musician, whose hands would have appeared on screen, he insisted that he learn the instrument and record the music himself.

Already familiar with the piano, the 51-year-old actor still found the harpsichord a challenge: "there's a different weight and a different timing to the harpsichord because it's plucking the strings, instead of hitting them with hammers," he told People. He added: "I insisted that director Karim [Ainouz] do a closeup of my hands so everyone knew it was actually me playing it. I said, 'You've got to make sure everyone knows it's me, this thing that's been on my back for months!"

Henry VIII was as much a lover of music as he was of sport, and the melody that Law played was one of Henry's own. An intimate study of the King-which includes learning the harpsichord-helped Law round out his character. "The director gave me a really clear directive," said Law, "which was this is a man, don't see him as some great historical figure. We wanted to understand him as a human."

This was not the first time that Law learned a new skill: he learned the saxophone for 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley, ballet for 2001's A.I., and fencing for 2023's Peter Pan and Wendy. None of these, however, were retained for very long.