Jude Law

Jude Law (born 27.12.1972)

Jude Law is an award winning English actor who began his career on the stage, before progressing to television and film to become one of the most bankable movie stars in Hollywood, with roles in The Talented Mr Ripley, Alfie, and My Blueberry Nights.

Jude Law: Childhood

Jude Law was born David Jude Law in Lewisham in South East London, the second child of Peter and Maggie. Jude was named him after the song Hey Jude by The Beatles and the central character in Thomas Hardy's novel, Jude the Obscure. Jude's parents were both teachers and now run a theatre company in France. Jude's sister, Natasha, is a London based artist.

Jude Law was raised in Blackheath and attended the local primary school where, aged six, he discovered his love of acting whilst performing in a school play. Following a spell at the local comprehensive school in nearby Kidbrooke, Jude went to Alleyn's School, an independent school in Dulwich.

By the time Jude was twelve he'd joined the prestigious National Youth Music Theatre which would propel him into the world of theatre and television. Jude's television debut was in a musical production of Beatrix Potter's The Tailor of Gloucester and at seventeen he left school to appear in the Granada soap opera, Families.

Jude Law: Acting Career

Law's first main stage roles were in The Fastest Clock In The Universe, and the West End production of Indiscretions, which he later performed on Broadway alongside Kathleen Turner. Law received the Ian Charleson Award for Outstanding Newcomer. Jude regularly returned to the stage throughout his film career.

Law secured his first major full length film role in Shopping (1994), co-starring Sadie Frost. Jude Law's profile rose further with the release of Wilde (1997), starring Stephen Fry as Oscar Wilde. Law played Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas and won the Most Promising Newcomer Award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards.

Jude Law subsequently moved to Hollywood where he landed a role in Gattaca (1997) starring Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, before being cast alongside Kevin Spacey in Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Law's next breakthrough role was in The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) with Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, for which Law was nominated an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Jude Law continued to gain roles in Hollywood blockbusters, appearing in Enemy at the Gates (2001), Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001), and Road to Perdition (2002), culminating in another Academy Award nomination for Cold Mountain in 2004.

Although the remake of Alfie (2004) was a box office flop, Jude Law's performance in the lead role - played by Michael Caine in the original film - made him a household name. Law followed this with a cameo appearance in The Aviator (2004) and as a narrator in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). In 2006 Law starred alongside Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jack Black in The Holiday, and in 2007 appeared in My Blueberry Nights with musician Norah Jones. That year, Jude also turned his hand to producing, with the film Sleuth in which he stars opposite Michael Caine.

Jude Law: Personal life

Jude Law and the actor Sadie Frost met on the set of Shopping in 1993, and married in 1997. They have four children: Finlay Munro (stepson of Law), son Rafferty, daughter Iris, and son Rudy. Law and Frost divorced in 2003, citing work pressures. Law later had a two-year relationship with actor Sienna Miller, which ended in 2006.

In 2004, The People magazine named Jude Law the Sexiest Man Alive. Law became the face of the new male perfume from Dior in 2008.

Law also runs the production company Natural Nylon with Jonny Lee Miller, Ewan McGregor and Sadie Frost.

Jude is involved in a wide variety of charity work and in 2007 contributed to The Day After Peace, a film set in Afghanistan, in recognition of International Peace Day.