Currently appearing as King Henry VIII in the television series The Tudors, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers looks not at all like the former king who, at a young age was unusually tall, well proportioned (particularly proud of his calves, as it happens), athletic, good-looking, blessed by a head of red-gold hair, a seemingly perfect physical embodiment of the Renaissance man that, in many respects, he was unlike the bloated tyrant of later years.Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks very little like that. He is dark-haired, blue-eyed, much shorter than the king he is meant to be playing, his face that of a fallen angel, a Caravaggio fantasy, a mask of unsettling, compelling sensuality.
In his youth, his energy and his magnetism, in the intelligence he conveys, and the sense of power that envelops him, Rhys Meyers is Henry, right down to the way that those eyes of his never cease to hint at the horrors to come.
Bearing the sort of sensual, androgynous looks that would have landed him in Calvin Klein ads if he hadn't gone into acting, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers has been making a name for himself in roles that call for a certain kind of alluringly deviant behavior. Since 1996, Rhys-Meyers has given trouble a good name in such films as Velvet Goldmine and The Governess.
In 2006, Rhys Meyers received a Golden Globe Award for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie" for his portrayal of the young Elvis Presley in the television miniseries "Elvis." In addition to this honor, he received an Emmy® nomination. The flawless portrayal of "The King" by a young Irish actor floored critics and audiences alike.
1 comment:
THe Tudors was the first show that made me miss having television in nearly two years. I would LOVE to see that!
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