But even OConnor admits that he had to get past the popular image of the marriage-happy monarch.
Henry VIII definitely conjured a certain image, he tells EW.
I got the opportunity to play him at a different time, he adds.
Credit: Starz
Its a teenage Henry VIII.
Hes falling in love with his brothers wife, hes doing teenage-y things.
It seems he really believed in love and romance, the actor says.
He was maybe chasing that his entire life.
With his relationship with Catherine, they were together 24 years.
OConnor also points to Henrys own pursuits as a Renaissance man as another thing that caught him off guard.
He loved writing music, he says.
Quite soppy music at times.
He wrote poetry to many of his wives and to Catherine of Aragon.
Its all in his own hand.
But hes a romantic.
Romantics can do awful things in the name of love.
There was no shortage of material for OConnor to draw inspiration from.
Theres a big portrait of him I could go and look at in between scenes, the actor recalls.
We were surrounded by the history.
Its the Earl of Lemongrab, the from animated seriesAdventure Time.
Hes based on Henry VIII, and hes this incredible over-the-top character, OConnor says.
And I was like, Do I play it like that?
The Spanish Princesspremieres Sunday, May 5, at 8 p.m.
