Meet The Actor Behind Henry VII On 'The White Princess'

When The White Princess premieres on Starz on April 16, fans of The White Queen will get a continuation of all of the drama and history they already started. In a show about Princess Elizabeth of York and her rise to power as Henry VII’s young bride, the miniseries will be all about how the power affected her in court. But since he’s also a big part of the new show, who plays Henry VII on The White Princess?

Jacob Collins-Levy is fairly new to the acting world of TV, but he seems to take his role in the eight-episode limited series pretty seriously. In an on-set video on Twitter, Collins-Levy spoke about his character on The White Princess and the historical importance he plays throughout the installment. While the actor doesn’t seem to be into social media as a whole, with no Instagram or Twitter accounts to be found, there are photos of him on his co-stars’ social media profiles and in real life, he seems a lot less stuffy than his regal counterpart on The White Princess.

When you see an actor take on a role that entails being forever dressed in 15th century clothes or armor, it’s kind of hard to tell what their real life personality is, but it seems like Collins-Levy from The White Princess is insanely cool and would be a blast to hang out with.

Before The White Princess, Collins-Levy played Rory in a few episodes of the TV series Glitch and before that he was in the indie movie Holding the Man. So while his acting credits certainly don’t go back 20 years, he’s not exactly a young pup when it comes to the profession. And watching Collins-Levy as Henry VII on The White Princess is plenty proof of that.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Collins-Levy pointed out that when you play a role like this, it’s hard to take your head out of it even when you’re finished filming for the day or for the week. "You have this head that’s, you know, stuck in the 15th century," he said. So he’s nothing if not totally dedicated to his role. Although Collins-Levy seems to be private as an actor — though as one of the stars of The White Princes that might have to change a bit — for now he’s likely enjoying the semi-anonymity that comes with dressing up as a 15th century king for work.