Jonathan Rhys Meyers Glad Of Tudors Axe

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is "glad" his US TV show 'The Tudors' is ending.

The Irish actor - who has portrayed Henry VIII in the drama series about the English monarch's reign for four series - is pleased the show will end after this season, even though it was "one of the best parts" he has ever landed.

He said: "I'm glad to say goodbye. It's nice to say goodbye to things. It's funny, I made a movie with Anthony Hopkins 10 years ago and he said one of his favourite parts of making films was going on to the next thing. It's like the death of one thing but the beginning of another. I had the best time doing the series and Henry was one of the best parts I've ever played. And in this final season he becomes an older man which was a bit more challenging because it took some prosthetic make-up."

While he enjoyed playing the powerful monarch, Jonathan believes the royal would have been a "b*****d" in real life.

He added to Parade.com: "I think he makes great television, but in the final analysis, he was not a great monarch. He was wracked with ego, vanity and thoughts of his own divinity. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, so he was very corrupt. I have a degree of admiration for him, but not much. Basically, he was a b*****d, but an interesting and attractive b*****d."