Academy Award nominated actor Jude Law has had a unique career in that he has managed to possess the looks of a leading man sex symbol but has still managed to always be regarded as a serious actor. He has fallen into the trap of just being a pretty face who plays standard action hero type roles.
Law was born in Greenwich, England to parents who were both teachers. He showed an early interest in acting and joined the prestigious National Youth Theater as a teenager. After a few appearances in small films and on stage, Law found his breakthrough role in a production of Jean Cocteau‘s play Les Parents Terribles which won him a number of Best Newcomer Awards from London critics. Such was his acclaim that when the play was remounted on Broadway (with its name changed to “Indiscretions”), Law was the only British cast member who repeated his role in the New York production. He earned a Tony nomination for this performance and also caught the eye of American directors and casting personnel who almost immediately began casting the actor in a series of strong film roles.
Law has continued to work steadily in films and theater ever since. He earned a second Tony nomination in 2010 when he played Shakespeare’s melancholy Dane, “Hamlet,” on Broadway and to date has earned two Oscar nominations (Best Actor for Cold Mountain in 2003 and Best Supporting Actor for “The Talented Mr. Ripley” in 1999.) He won the BAFTA award for that latter role.
Take a tour of our photo gallery above for his 15 greatest film performances, ranked from worst to best. In addition to the movies mentioned in this article, we also include “Closer,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” and more. Which one is your favorite?
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15. I HEART HUCKABEES (2004)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock Director: David O. Russell. Writers: David O. Russell, Jeff Baena. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg.
Unfortunately “I Heart Huckabees” is best remembered for the behind the scenes video that went viral that shows Lily Tomlin and director David O. Russell viciously arguing during production. Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman star as existential detectives who help people solve their personal issues and find happiness. (Sort of ironic given how unhappy the filming was.) Law plays a vapid executive at Huckabees which is a chain of department stores.
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14. SIDE EFFECTS (2013)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock Director: Steven Soderbergh. Writer: Scott Z. Burns. Starring Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rooney Mara.
“Side Effects” is an inventive thriller that stars Law as a psychiatrist who prescribes anti-depressants for a suicidal woman who then murders her husband. What unfolds is a complex tale where not everything is what it seems and Law ends up fighting for his own family and career. The film starts out seeming like it will be a comment on the controversial pharmacy industry but instead becomes a nifty thriller.
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13. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director and writer Kerry Conran. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi.
Shot in an old fashioned style “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” features giant robots attacking New York City. Law plays the Sky Captain of the title who is placed in charge of fighting off the robots. The film also features period style banter in which Law and co-star Gwyneth Paltrow bicker in the style of films from the early days of American cinema. Law is quoted as calling the film “The African Queen’ meets ‘Buck Rogers.”
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12. REPO MEN (2010)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock Director: Miguel Sapochnik. Writers: Eric Garcia, Garrett Lerner. Starring Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber.
“Repo Men” was a box office hit that places Law in the year 2025 when organ transplants are now done with mechanical organs. Law plays one of the repo men who go out to repossess the organs from people who can’t afford to pay for them. After an accident Law finds himself on the other side of the situation when he needs an organ and eventually is unable to pay for it subjecting himself to repossession. Despite the subject matter Law surprisingly received a Teen Choice Award nomination as Best Actor-Science Fiction.
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11. SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)
Image Credit: Silver Pictures/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Guy Ritchie, Writers: Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong.
There have been countless movies and television versions of the Sherlock Holmes story but this was perhaps the most successful one to ever hit box offices. Robert Downey Jr. plays Holmes and Jude Law plays his sidekick Dr. Watson.
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10. THE AVIATOR (2004)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Martin Scorsese. Writer: John Logan. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Alan Alda.
This sprawling biopic of Howard Hughes received 11 Oscar nominations and early in the derby it seemed like it might actually finally win director Martin Scorsese his long overdo Best Director Oscar. “Million Dollar Baby” swooped in at the last minute and took the major categories though. The film offered a lot of contemporary actors the chance to play classic film stars and Cate Blanchett even won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her take on Katharine Hepburn. Law gives a stylish performance as Errol Flynn.
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9. CONTAGION (2011)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Stephen Soderbergh. Writer: Scott Z. Burns. Starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow.
“Contagion” is an all too realistic thriller that depicts a powerful virus that suddenly starts sweeping through the world and causing mass deaths. Law gives one of his most interesting performances as a conspiracy theorist who spends his time protesting the government (and possibly spreading the virus.)
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8. SPY (2015)
Image Credit: Larry D Horricks/20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director and writer: Paul Feig. Starring Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Allison Janney.
Melissa McCarthy had one of her biggest hits in this film about a CIA employee who works an office job who agrees to go out in the field for the first time with comic results. Law plays an agent whom McCarthy used to help do his fieldwork from her desk job. When he is killed McCarthy goes into action.
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7. GATTACA (1997)
Image Credit: Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director and writer: Andrew Niccol. Starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Gore Vidal.
This science fiction film was Law’s first major role in an American film. The story takes place in the future where employment opportunities are determined by a person’s genetic makeup. People with superior genetics are given the better jobs while those with inferior genetics are relegated to menial labor. Ethan Hawke stars as a genetically inferior man who wants to pursue a career in space travel. Law plays his friend who is of genetic superiority but has been paralyzed in a car accident. Hawke then uses samples of Law’s genes to pose as a genetically superior person.
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6. HUGO (2011)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock Director: Martin Scorsese. Writer: John Logan. Starring Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee.
Five Oscars in the technical crafts went to this Martin Scorsese film about a young boy who is eventually orphaned and forced to live on his own in the walls of a Paris train station. Law plays the boy’s father who is a kindly widowed clock maker who tries to bring back to function a mechanical man before his untimely death.
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5. THE ROAD TO PERDITION (2002)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director: Sam Mendes. Writer: David Self. Starring Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Rob Maxey, Paul Newman, Daniel Craig.
Acting legend Paul Newman received his final Oscar nomination (Supporting Actor) for this film adaptation of a popular graphic novel. Tom Hanks stars as an employee of the Irish mafia. Law plays another mobster who his hired to kill Hank’s character. The film was Sam Mendes’ followup to his Oscar winning “American Beauty.” Although the film received its share of acclaim and won an Oscar for cinematography it was considered a bit of a disappointment overall since it didn’t reach the same level of awards success as Mendes’ first film.
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4. CLOSER (2004)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Mike Nichols. Writer: Patrick Marber. Starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman.
Based on the hit London and Broadway play “Closer” tells the story of two couples who begin affairs with each other’s partners. Law plays a journalist who has a doomed relationship with an erratic young stripper (Natalie Portman.) The film features strong performances from all four actors no doubt helped by the strong hand of actor’s director Mike Nichols as well as beautifully photographed scenes of melancholy London streets which reflect the troubled character’s state of mind.
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3. AI: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001)
Image Credit: David James/REX/Shutterstock Director: Steven Spielberg. Writer: Ian Watson, Steven Spielberg. Starring Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O’Connor.
Steven Spielberg reworked the story of Pinocchio in a science fiction setting for this 2001 film. Haley Joel Osment of “The Sixth Sense” plays a mechanical boy who longs to be “real” and regain his mother’s love. Law plays a mechanical sex robot named Gigolo Joe who is on the run after being accused of murder. Law studied the dancing styles of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly to perfect his robot moves.
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2. COLD MOUNTAIN (2003)
Image Credit: Miramax/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director and writer: Anthony Minghella. Starring Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Natalie Portman.
Set during the brutal American civil war Law plays a soldier who goes off to fight in the confederate army leaving is young lover (Nicole Kidman) to fend for herself until his return. She is aided by Renee Zellweger (in an Oscar winning Supporting Actress performance) as a resourceful young woman who knows how to work the land. She helps Kidman bring the farm they are living on back to working order. Law received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the film but lost the award to Sean Penn for “Mystic River.”
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1. THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999)
Image Credit: Lance Staedler/Paramount/Miramax/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director and writer: Anthony Minghella. Starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett.
Law received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for this complex Hitchcockian thriller based on the acclaimed series of books by Patricia Highsmith. The film deals with identity issues as a young mentally off balance young man (Matt Damon) is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to go to Italy and bring back his playboy son (Law) who has been living a carefree life in a small Italian town. Ripley (Damon) becomes infatuated with Jude Law’s character and begins to aspire to be his lover. When that passion fails the confused Ripley begins to adopt Law’s character’s personality. Law gives his best screen performance here as the charismatic and desirable Dickie who is also quite self-involved and thoughtless of other’s feelings. Law walks a complicated line creating a character which we can understand why he is the object of such admiration by the others in the film yet we also can feel a sense of happiness when he meets his final end.
