Jude Law had a perfume of puss, blood, feces, and sweat made to play Henry VIII in Firebrand

In his later years, Henry VIII wasn't very easy on the eyes, ears, or nose. And Jude Law took that quite seriously when he embodied the 15th-century king in Firebrand.

During a press conference for the film Monday at the Cannes Film Festival, Law described going to a gifted perfumier to really abuse her talents in order to help him get into character.

"I read several interesting accounts that at this period you could smell Henry three rooms away," the actor recalled. "His leg was rotting so badly. And he hid it with rose oil. So I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful."

Law had the perfumier, whom he gushed makes "wonderful scents" but also "awful scents," create the latter — a concoction with notes of puss, blood, fecal matter, and sweat.

The actor initially used the perfume "subtly" and thought he would just keep it for himself… until director Karim Aïnouz got hold of it. Then, according to Law, it became a "spray fest."

Law and costar Alicia Vikander, who plays Henry's sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr, went on to share anecdotes of crew members dry-heaving from the stench.

Though Aïnouz agreed that when Law walked on set "it was just horrible," he also admitted to spraying rooms down with the perfume when everyone left to eat because the horrifying smell was "incredible" and "triggered a lot."

And it might just have worked, since Firebrand received an eight-minute ovation at Cannes. In the world of film festival ovations, that's pretty good: It's more than Johnny Depp's divisive seven for Jeanne du Barry but less than Martin Scorsese's nine for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Maybe a hair more fecal matter scent and that standing O could've broken the 10-minute mark.

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