Early life
Jude Law was born in Lewisham, South London, England to teachers Peter and Maggie Law, who now run their own drama school in France. His sister Natasha is a well regarded illustrator and artist. He was educated at 'John Ball' Primary school in Blackheath and Kidbrooke School in Kidbrooke, before attending the Alleyn's School in Dulwich. In 1987 he started acting with the National Youth Music Theatre.
Law's first major stage role was as Foxtrot Darling, the sexually ambiguous and manipulative teenager in Philip Ridley's multi-award-winning The Fastest Clock In The Universe. Law went on to appear as Michael in the West End production of Jean Cocteau's tragicomedy Les parents terribles directed by Sean Mathias. This role saw Jude nominated for an Olivier Award as Best Newcomer. Following a title change to Indiscretions, the play transferred as an imaginative re-working to Broadway in 1995, and he played opposite Kathleen Turner, Roger Rees and Cynthia Nixon. This role earned him a Tony Award nomination and the Theatre World Award.
In 1989 he got his first TV role in a movie based on a Beatrix Potter book, The Tailor of Gloucester. After minor roles in British television, including a two year stint in the Granada TV soap opera Families and the leading role in the BFI /Channel 4 short The Crane, Law had his breakthrough with the British ram-raiding drama Shopping which also featured his future wife Sadie Frost. He shot to fame in Britain upon the release of the biopic Wilde, in which he played Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, the glamorous lover of Stephen Fry's Oscar Wilde.
He subsequently moved to Hollywood; his performances include Andrew Niccol's Gattaca, as a frustrated Olympic medalist bound by a wheelchair, in Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil as the ill-fated lover of Kevin Spacey's character, and in Sam Mendes's Road to Perdition as a sadistic hitman in a critically-praised performance. He has been nominated for an Academy Award twice; once as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley in 2000, and then again as Best Actor in a Leading Role for Cold Mountain in 2003, both directed by Anthony Minghella. For the film The Talented Mr. Ripley he learned to play saxophon and earned a MTV Movie Award nomination together with Matt Damon and Fiorello for performing the song Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano by Renato Carosone and Nicola Salerno, so he learned ballet dancing for the film Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001).
He portrayed the lead character in Alfie, the remake of Bill Naughton's 1966 drama. He also acted opposite Michael Caine in the 2007 film Sleuth. In both films, he plays the role originally played by Caine. In Sleuth Michael Caine played Laurence Olivier's role. Law is an admirer of Olivier and it was Law's idea to use archive footage of Olivier (who died in 1989) in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow so the deceased actor could "play" the film's villain.
Jude Law is on the latest Top Ten List from the 2006 A-list of the most bankable movie stars in Hollywood. The list was created by James Ulmer, he calls his method The Ulmer Scale. He was honored with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government on March 1, 2007 in recognition of his contribution to World Cinema Arts. He was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres .
He is a fan of the graphic novel Watchmen, by Alan Moore, so much so he has a tattoo of the Rorschach character. He has maintained an interest in being involved in a feature film production of the series, especially if it were directed by Darren Aronofsky. He has said that he would most likely play the character Ozymandias. He was, at one point, courted to play either Batman or Superman in Batman Begins, Batman vs. Superman, and/or General Zod in Superman Returns. In 2005, he was one of many actors rumored to be a possible choice to assume the role of James Bond, as MGM decided not to renew Irish actor Pierce Brosnan's contract. The role would eventually go to fellow Englishman Daniel Craig.
In 1997 he set up a film company, Natural Nylon, with Sadie Frost and fellow friends and thespians Jonny Lee Miller, Ewan McGregor, Sean Pertwee, Damon Bryant and Bradley Adams.
Jude Law is the apparel ambassador of Dunhill. He has signed a two year deal ad campaign with Dunhill in spring 2006. The ads will be shown in Asia only. He is to be the international face and appear in the worldwide Spring/Summer 2008 advertising campaign, apart from commercials in North America. He represented the company in Asia since 2005.
In 2002 Sadie Frost and Jude Law supported Respect for Animals with an Anti Fur commercial. It was directed by Jude Law and with music specially composed by Gary Kemp.
In 2004 Jude Law has launched a public campaign to raise £2.5 million towards the Young Vic Theatre’s £12.5 million redevelopment project. He is currently Chair of the Young Vic committee and proud to help make the Young Vic “a nurturing bed” for young directors.
He is a big soccer fan and a supporter of the English football club Tottenham Hotspur. In 2006 he was set to join Robbie Williams in the Soccer Aid celebrity football match to beneft UNICEF.
Jude Law's charity work also includes that for Make Poverty History, Rhys Daniels Trust and WAVE Trauma Centre. He supports the charity Make-A-Wish Foundation and is the chair of the Music For Tomorrow Foundation to help rebuild Katrina-devastated New Orleans.
In 2006, Frost and Law dedicated their Christmas holidays to direct a Shakespeare play in a South African orphanage. He traveled to Durban, South Africa, with Frost and their children in order to help children who have lost their parents to Aids. In July 2007 as patron of the charity he helped kick off the month-long tour of the AIDS-themed musical Thula Sizwe by The Young Zulu Warriors.
Jude Law, plus many others, record video clips for online web march for Friends of the Earth/The Big Ask campaign, asking Government to take strong action against climate change.
In July 2007, Jude Law was travelling with the founder of Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley on a mission to document peace commitments and activities in Afghanistan for an upcoming film which will be released in May 2008 and for marking the UN International Day of Peace. They were accompanied by UNICEF Representative Catherine Mbengue. They traveled and filmed in treacherous areas of eastern Afghanistan with a Peace One Day film crew, and interviewed children, government ministers, community leaders and UN officials. The crew also filmed schools and visited various UNICEF-supported programmes inside and outside the capital. Peace Day is on September 21.
Law married Sadie Frost on September 2, 1997. They have four children: Finlay Munro (stepson of Law, born September 20, 1990), son Rafferty (born October 6, 1996), daughter Iris (born October 25, 2000) and son Rudy (born September 10, 2002). Kate Moss is the godmother of his daughter Iris. For a time Frost and Law were central to the so-called 'Primrose Hill set' of young British actors. In early 2003, Jude and Sadie separated and the so-called supercouple finalized its divorce on October 29, 2003. In 2005, Frost and Law reached a divorce settlement after nearly two years of negotiations. Sadie Frost kept the couple's £2million London house in Primrose Hill, and she received a £4million payment and £15,000 a month, according to reports.
He became engaged to Sienna Miller, his co-star in Alfie. On July 18, 2005, he issued a public apology to his fiancée for having an affair with his children's nanny. Law and Miller reconciled. Reports from May 29, 2006 stated that Miller and Law were "working things out." On November 12, 2006 they made public their relationship was over.
Academy Awards
2004 Nominated Oscar - Best Actor in a Leading Role for: Cold Mountain (2003)2000 Nominated Oscar - Best Actor in a Supporting Role for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
2000 Nominated Saturn Award- Best Supporting Actor for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
BAFTA Awards
2004 Nominated BAFTA Award - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for: Cold Mountain (2003)2000 Won BAFTA Film Award - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
2000 Won Blockbuster Entertainment Award - Favorite Supporting Actor - Suspense for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Nominated BFCA Award - Best Acting Ensemble for: Closer (2004/I)Shared with: Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
2002 Nominated CFCA Award - Best Supporting Actor for: Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
Cesar Awards, France
2007 Honorary Cesar
Empire Awards, UK
2004 Nominated Empire Award - Best British Actor for: Cold Mountain (2003)2003 Nominated Empire Award - Best British Actor for: Road to Perdition (2002)2001 Nominated Empire Award - Best British Actor for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
European Film Awards
2001 Nominated Audience Award - Best Actor for: Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Evening Standard British Film Awards
1998 Won Evening Standard British Film Award - Most Promising Newcomer for: Wilde (1997)
Golden Globes
2004 Nominated Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for: Cold Mountain (2003)2002 Nominated Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for: Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)2000 Nominated Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Irish Film and Television Awards
2004 Nominated Audience Award - Best International Actor for: Cold Mountain (2003)
London Critics Circle Film Awards
2001 Nominated ALFS Award - British Supporting Actor of the Year for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
MTV Movie Awards
2007 Nominated MTV Movie Award - Best Kiss for: The Holiday (2006), shared with Cameron Diaz
2005 Nominated MTV Movie Award - Best Kiss for: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), shared with Gwyneth Paltrow
2003 Nominated MTV Movie Award - Best Trans-Atlantic Breakthrough Performer
2000 Nominated MTV Movie Award - Best Musical Performance for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), shared with Matt Damon and Fiorello for the song "Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano".
National Board of Review
2004 Won NBR Award - Best Acting by an Ensemble for: Closer (2004/I)Shared with: Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts
Online Film Critics Society Awards
2002 Nominated OFCS Award - Best Supporting Actor for: Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
People's Choice Awards
2005 Nominated People's Choice Award - Favorite Leading Man
Santa Fe Film Critics Circle Awards
2000 Won SFFCC Award - Best Supporting Actor for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Satellite Awards
2004 Nominated Golden Satellite Award - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for: Cold Mountain (2003)2000 Nominated Golden Satellite Award - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
2005 Nominated - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for: The Aviator (2004)Shared with: Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, John C. Reilly, Gwen Stefani
ShoWest Convention
2004 ShoWest Award - Male Star of the Year
Teen Choice Award
2000 Nominated Teen Choice Award - Film Choice Breakout Performance for: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Visual Effects Society Awards
2005 Nominated VES Award - Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film for: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
