Stars Alicia Vikander and Jude Law tell EW about the movie that leans more into the "domestic drama" than royal history.with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies,, and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books.
"The goal,” Law continues, “was not to modernize, but to humanize and take off the mantle of history. To take them out of the spotlight of royalty and look much more at what was going on between them. Obviously, the trappings of royalty and power have an influence on how he behaves, but what I'd never really considered was just how appalling his behavior was, and how terrifying it must have been to be that final wife.
Vikander shares that goal. “Karim wanted to undress this costume drama in the sense of wanting it to feel authentic and intimate,” she details. For her, that meant finding Catherine’s own sense of vanity and entitlement in her role as queen, right alongside her reputation as a pious, devout woman. Much of that came from Vikander’s interpretation of Catherine’s own writings. “She’s a good Christian, and she did write these books, but she's also a woman who does care a lot about what she looks like and loves to be queen. I enjoyed seeing a part of her that wasn't as shimmering when I read her own words, which gave me more of a flavor of creating a human being.
That move is part of Vikander’s pursuit of authenticity and the historical realities of what Catherine would have endured. “It’'s very important when we make these films to honor that these are real lives and people,” she says. “In court, there were like 300 men and about 10 women. That really gives you a sense of entrapment.