Hollywood heartthrob used body double for sex scenes after confessing major issue

While no stranger to racy sex scenes in his movies, this Hollywood actor had to get a body double in his most recent cinematic release.

In his newest film Firebrand, the 51-year-old Hollywood veteran portrays Henry VIII while Alicia Vikander plays the late Tudor king's sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr.

Jude Law plays Henry VIII in Firebrand. (Amazon Prime Video)

We are, of course, talking about Jude Law.

The synopsis for the film, which had a limited theatrical release on June 14, reads: "In Tudor England, Katherine Parr reluctantly agrees to become the sixth wife of the tyrannical King Henry VIII.

"Her consent to marry him carries great personal risk, given her predecessors are either vanquished, beheaded or dead. Perceived as a threat by Henry's courtiers, they start to cast doubts about her fidelity and turn the increasingly paranoid king against her."

There are apparently some rather 'grotesque' sex scenes in Firebrand (as per one critic), but when you see a glimpse of Henry VIII's backside, it isn't actually Law's.

It isn't because Law has all of a sudden become camera shy that a body double was hired for these scenes in particular, but because The Holiday favorite was struggling to put on weight for the role.

Henry VIII was reported to have weighed around 400 pounds, which would have been quite the mission for Law to undergo.

"In the time I had there was just no way I was going to be able to put on that weight," the actor admitted to podcaster Marc Maron.

"We gained weight in another way. The clothes were so huge, they were voluminous. We put on weights and padding and all sorts of things to create the scale and presence of the man."

But there were certain scenes where Law couldn't embody the late Tudor king's large stature with clothing - and that was in sex scenes.

With this in mind, Former IT manager Dale Farrow was reportedly hired as the actor's butt double.

Alicia Vikander stars alongside Jude Law. (Amazon Prime Video)

Speaking about his cheeky appearance in the movie, Farrow said to The Sun: "You don’t see anything you wouldn’t on Skegness beach."

At the time of writing, Firebrand boasts a 68 percent Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes and a less favorable 53 percent on its Tomatometer.

One critic said of the film: "Bolstered by splendid performances from Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, director Karim Aïnouz’s period piece, FIREBRAND, is a fascinating depiction of Katherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII."

"Alicia Vikander and Jude Law anchor this handsome exercise in historical fiction, which meanders a bit before nicely paying off at the end," added a second.

Dozens of other reviewers also raved about Law and Vikander's performances.