Jonathan Pryce is Cardinal Wolsey

Who is Cardinal Wolsey and what is his role in Wolf Hall?

Essentially his role within this setup is that he’s Henry VIII’s mentor and his right hand man. He made everything possible for Henry. He was a politician. He was a man of the church. Because of the church, a man of considerable wealth; interested in the arts, interested in architecture, but essentially he’s the guiding figure for Henry. Is he a good man? Well, he’s as good as a politician can be. I don't get the feeling that Wolsey spent a lot of time in the pulpit, put it that way.

What research did you do on Wolsey?

It’s always very difficult researching the material for your character within a film or TV programme because often you can end up wanting to put things in which can’t be put in because of time or whatever, so I suppose essentially what I do is I respect the screenwriter. I respect the fact that he and the director have done tons of research, and what I want to do then is to bring that character to life based on their research.

What is it about Wolsey that enabled him to rise to such a powerful position?

I suppose you’d call him a smooth operator, a kind of Alistair Campbell of the Tudors. He’s incredibly bright. He was at university, a different setup to what we have now, but he went to university when he was probably 13 or 14, I think. So he’s highly intelligent, came from a fairly lowly background - not quite as low as Cromwell’s, but he was a man of great ambition and managed to accrue a great deal of wealth through his position in the church.

Was that why he antagonised the English nobles to such a degree?

Oh, I think he was a hugely charismatic and public figure, and he wore his power and his wealth on his sleeve. He upset a lot of people because he could have them removed from positions of power and he was a great manipulator. He was quite ruthless.

Why do you think these historical figures and this story continue to fascinate?

Because I think their attitudes and their drives and their ambitions still hold sway today. I mean you see it in contemporary politicians and figures of power. I think because of that they’re still fascinating characters.

How have you found filming Wolf Hall?

Well one of the joys of doing this is the locations. The original Tudor buildings have been absolutely extraordinary - you get to see things you wouldn’t normally get to see. As far as the clothes are concerned, I look good in red, what more can I say?