Damian Lewis reveals touching memory with on-screen love from Wolf Hall

Ten years after Wolf Hall first brought the Tudor court of Henry VIII to our screens, the BAFTA-award-winning series is back. The adaptation of The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel's final book before her death in 2022, focuses on the final four years of Thomas Cromwell's life.

Damian Lewis, 53, reprised his role as Tudor monarch Henry VIII, and he shared how two key scenes in the new mini-series were particularly emotional for him.

Speaking to HELLO!, Damian said: "One of the most moving scenes was my [character's] marriage to lovely Jane [Seymour], but it also was a particularly moving day when she passed, from an acting point of view and being immersed and present."

In real history, Henry's third wife Jane Seymour died just 12 days after giving birth to a son, Edward.

The day may have been particularly poignant for Damian given his own wife, Helen McCrory, died in 2021 after a battle with cancer.

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During a Q&A, the Billions actor reflected on his character Henry's real-life relationship with Jane Seymour, and whether she would have lived if she had survived childbirth.

He said: "I think that Henry enjoys his power. I will say in Henry's defence, he was a good one for social mobility. Both Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell elevated to the two most powerful men in the land. In the end, of course, they become too powerful, and he has them both done away.

"There is every possibility, of course, that that might have happened with Jane, but I think Hilary [Mantel] believed, and there's no better source, I think she believed that Henry genuinely loved Jane. I think he was fond, properly fond of her."

Getting into character

When asked about his characterisation of Henry, who was beginning to get into later life as well as suffering from gout, Damian explained how the character's physicality was essential for the role.

The costume team "put me in a fabulous foam suit, which was actually a blessing, because it was quite cold this time. We based it on the Holbein portrait [of Henry] that was really our enduring image for Henry to find that width, because he's physically imposing, as well as psychologically."

Speaking exclusively to HELLO!, Will Tudor, who plays Jane's elder brother in the series explained what it was like to wear the costumes required for the role.

"I think the initial thing is the weight of them. They are so, so heavy that it gives you a certain posture which sets how you would act and how you move around the space as well. It's so different to what we normally wear, but immediately you are put in the mind of someone in Tudor times."

Kindness on set

Actor Lilit Lesser, who plays Henry's daughter Princess Mary, explained to HELLO! their experience as a newer actor on set. They said: "This was my first job when I was 17, 10 years ago. What I was most struck by then, which will stay with me for the rest of my life, was the deep kindness of [director] Peter, Mark [Rylance], of everyone.

"I just think it's a testament to them that I felt exactly the same level of true respect, kindness, collaboration and joy that I did as much then as that kid as I did this time around."