Jude Law - Jude Law: People assume I'm a playboy

Jude Law: People assume I'm a playboy

Jude Law says people ''assume'' he's a playboy.

The 40-year-old actor - who has three children, Rafferty, 16, Iris, 12, and Rudy, 10, with ex-wife Sadie Frost and three-year-old daughter Sophia with model Samantha Burke - gained the reputation of being a lothario after cheating on actress girlfriend Sienna Miller with his children's nanny in 2005, and he has revealed people still perceive him as a love rat even though it's not true.

In an interview with ShortList magazine, he said: ''People assume that I'll be like that. You have to separate it and say, 'Well I know it's not me.' You learn to live with this dichotomy of who you are and who they're saying you are.''

The 'Side Effects' star remembers the frenzy his love life caused and recalls 2005 and subsequent years as a ''horrible'' period in time, because his acting was overshadowed by his personal life.

He explained: ''That period was horrible. It was just boring. Boring, shallow and infuriating.

''I think it managed to [overshadow my acting] for a while, unfortunately. I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the swamp, the mire.

''I'm not interested in gutter-sniping. There's too much good stuff going on. I was hoping to contribute to the good stuff and I felt as though I was suddenly pulled into this level of nonsense.''

But Jude believes his last few roles - including his portrayal of Dr. John Watson in the 'Sherlock Holmes' franchise and his appearance in the critically acclaimed 'Anna Karenina' - have helped him turn the tide, and allowed him to be taken seriously as an actor again.

He said: ''I realised quickly I'd have to keep my head down and hope that the work would win out. It seems to have so far.''