Henry VIII (2003)

Some historical figures carry greater skinificance than others. Notorious men such as Playboy player Hugh Hefner and crooner cad Frank Sinatra helped set the standard for manly behavior in the mid-20th century. Yet their sexual revolution doesn’t live up to the innovations in male-female relations pioneered by one crowned head living hundreds of years earlier. Not only did this forward-thinking King save England from the Popes, the studly sovereign lent his name and image to the British miniseries Henry VIII (2003), not to be confused with Henry VIII (2020), Carry on Henry VIII (1971), and The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970). Indeed, every schoolboy is taught that randy Hank yanked his way through half a dozen wives including Katherine of Aragon (Assumpta Serna), Jane Seymour (Emilia Fox), Anne of Cleves (Pia Girard), Catherine Howard (Emily Blunt), and Catherine Parr (Clare Holman). During his 38-year reign, he beheaded two of them for bedding other men. This information alone is enough to know that the historical drama’s four hour runtime is guaranteed to be action packed. As the titular ruler, Ray Winstone leads a cast of esteemed actors including Charles Dance as the Duke of Buckingham, Mark Strong as the Duke of Norfolk, and Sean Bean as Robert Aske. Of course, their presence pales in the wake of Ray’s nudity. The monarch flashes his back and royal hindness while skinny-dipping with his second spouse Anne Boleyn (Helena Bonham Carter). Suffice it to say, a pair of the King’s cheeks makes Mr. Man flush!