Early life

Law was born in Lewisham, South London, the second child of comprehensive school teachers Margaret Anne (née Heyworth) and Peter Robert Law; his father later became, according to Law, "the youngest headmaster in London". He has a sister, Natasha. Law was named after a "bit of both" the book Jude the Obscure and the Beatles song "Hey Jude". He grew up in Blackheath, an area in the Borough of Greenwich, and was educated at John Ball Primary School in Blackheath and Kidbrooke School, before attending Alleyn's School.

Career

1980s-1990s

In 1987, Law began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre. He played various roles in the Edinburgh Fringe-awarded play The Ragged Child. One of his first major stage roles was Foxtrot Darling in Philip Ridley's 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. For this play, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Newcomer, and he received the Ian Charleson Award for Outstanding Newcomer.

Following a title change to Indiscretions, the play was reworked and transferred to Broadway in 1995, where Law acted opposite Kathleen Turner, Roger Rees and Cynthia Nixon. This role earned him a Tony Award nomination and the Theatre World Award. In 1989, Law got his first television role, in a film based on the Beatrix Potter children's book, The Tailor of Gloucester. After minor roles in British television, including a two-year stint in the Granada TV soap opera Families, the leading role in the BFI /Channel 4 short The Crane, Law had his breakthrough with the British crime drama Shopping, which also featured his future wife, Sadie Frost, and a minor role in the episode "Shoscombe Old Place" in Granada's television series Sherlock Holmes.

In 1997, he became more widely known with his role in the Oscar Wilde bio-pic Wilde. Law won the "Most Promising Newcomer" award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards for his role as Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, the glamorous young lover of Stephen Fry's Wilde. In Andrew Niccol's science fiction film Gattaca, Law played the role of a disabled former swimming star living in a eugenics-obsessed dystopia. In Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, he played the role of the ill-fated sex-worker murdered by an art dealer portrayed by Kevin Spacey.

For The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999, Law learned to play saxophone and earned an MTV Movie Award nomination with Matt Damon and Fiorello for performing the song "Tu vuò fà l'americano" by Renato Carosone and Nicola Salerno. The role earned him a Bafta for Best Supporting Actor.

2000s

In 2001, Law starred as Russian sniper Vasily Zaytsev in the film Enemy at the Gates, and learned ballet dancing for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). In 2002, he played a mob hitman in Sam Mendes's 1930s period drama Road to Perdition. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999, and then again for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Cold Mountain in 2003. Both films were directed by Anthony Minghella.

Law, an admirer of Sir Laurence Olivier, suggested the actor's image be included in the 2004 film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Using the science of computer graphics, footage of the young Olivier was merged into the film, playing Dr. Totenkopf, a mysterious scientific genius and supervillain. Also in 2004, Law portrayed the title character in Alfie, the remake of Bill Naughton's 1966 film, playing the role originated by Michael Caine; and later took on another of Caine's earlier roles in the 2007 film Sleuth, adapted by Nobel Laureate in Literature Harold Pinter, while Caine played the role originated by Olivier.

In 2006, he portrayed the role of Kate Winslet's single-parent brother in the film The Holiday, a modern-day American romantic comedy written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers. After his appearances in a string of period dramas and science fiction films in the early to mid-2000s, Law said he found it tricky to approach the contemporary role in this film. Like Winslet, the actor stated, he felt more vulnerable about playing a character who fitted his own look and did not require an accent, a costume or a relocation.

Law was one of the Top Ten 2006 A-list of the most bankable film stars in Hollywood, according to the Ulmer Scale. On 1 March 2007, he was honoured with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres conferred by the French government, in recognition of his contribution to World Cinema Arts. He was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

Law is one of three actors who took over the role of actor Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Along with Law, actors Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell portray "three separate dimensions in the film." He appeared opposite Forest Whitaker in the dark science fiction comedy Repo Men and as Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's adaption of Sherlock Holmes, alongside Robert Downey, Jr. and Rachel McAdams, as well as the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Law starred as a celebrity supermodel in the film Rage, and blogger and "prophet" Alan Krumwiede in the 2011 medical thriller Contagion.

Hamlet

In May 2009, Law returned to the London stage to portray the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Donmar Warehouse West End season at Wyndham's Theatre. The BBC reported "a fine and solid performance" but included other reviews of Law's interpretation that were mixed. There was a further run of the production at Elsinore Castle in Denmark from 25-30 August 2009. In September 2009 the production transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. Again, the critics failed to agree on the merit of Law's interpretation: London's Daily Mail found only positive reviews, but The Washington Post felt that the much-anticipated performance was "highly disappointing". Nonetheless, he was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. In January 2010 at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards ceremony he was presented with the John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance for his 2009 Hamlet.

The Young Pope

In May 2015 it was announced that Law will portray a conservative Italian American Cardinal who is elected Pope in response to what is perceived as rampant liberalism in the Catholic Church. An eight-episode series, The Young Pope is being jointly produced by Rupert Murdoch's paybox Sky and France's Canal Plus with HBO and directed by Academy Award winning director Paolo Sorrentino. Taking the name Pius XIII, the new Pope proves to be far more conservative than even the Vatican was prepared for and is shown grappling with personal crisis as well as issues involving doctrine and church discipline.

Other projects

Advertising

In 2002, he directed a Respect for Animals anti-fur cinema commercial. The commercial, titled "Fur and Against", used music composed by Gary Kemp, and included appearances by Law, Chrissie Hynde, Moby, George Michael, Danny Goffey, Rhys Ifans, Sadie Frost, Helena Christensen, Sir Paul McCartney, Mel C, and Stella McCartney.

Since 2005, he has represented Dunhill as an "apparel ambassador" in Asia.

In 2008, he became the international face of Dunhill and began appearing in the worldwide advertising campaigns.

In 2008, Law became the face of the male perfume, Dior Homme Sport.

Realtime Movie

In early 2007, Law shot the Jason Martin-directed short film Realtime Movie Trailer at Borough Market, South London. Instead of promoting a film, this "trailer", which appeared among regular trailers in selected cinemas across London starting 19 November 2007, advertised a live event, Realtime Movie, by Polish artist Paweł Althamer. Hundreds turned up for this unfilmed re-enactment, in real time, of the sequence of events shown in Realtime Movie Trailer by the same actors, including Althamer as a Polish labourer, held on 30 November 2007. The performance was commissioned by Tate Modern as part of its "The World as a Stage" exhibition, which explored the boundaries between arts and reality.

Charity activities

In 2004, Law launched a campaign to raise £2.5 million towards the Young Vic Theatre's £12.5 million redevelopment project. He is currently Chairman of the Young Vic committee and has said that he is proud to help make the Young Vic "a nurturing bed" for young directors. In 2006, he joined Robbie Williams in the "Soccer Aid" celebrity football match to benefit UNICEF.

In 2006, he starred in an anthology of Samuel Beckett readings and performances directed by director Anthony Minghella. With the Beckett Gala Evening at the Reading Town Hall, more than £22,000 was donated for the Macmillan Cancer Support. Also in 2006, Frost and Law directed a Shakespeare play in a South African orphanage. He travelled to Durban with Frost and their children 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. Also in 2007, he encouraged the Friends of the Earth/the Big Ask campaign, asking British Government to take action against climate change.

Law does charity work for organisations such as Make Poverty History, the Rhys Daniels Trust, and the WAVE Trauma Centre. He supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Pride of Britain Awards.

He is the chairman of the Music For Tomorrow Foundation to help rebuild Katrina-devastated New Orleans.

Jude Law serves as an ambassador of the Prince of Wales' Children and the Arts Foundation. He supports Breast Cancer Care, and in December 2008 he supported the Willow Foundation with a small canvas for their campaign Stars on Canvas. In April 2009 he supported the charity Education Africa with the gift of a mask he had painted and signed himself. The campaign was launched on eBay by Education Africa.

Stars including Dame Judi Dench and Jude Law have helped save St Stephen's Church in Hampstead. The celebrities supported the campaign, which raised £4.5 million to refurbish the Victorian church in North London. The building reopened in March 2009 as an arts and community centre.

Peace activities

In July 2007, Jude Law and Jeremy Gilley were in Afghanistan over a period of 10 days to document peace commitments and activities there for an upcoming film and for marking the UN International Day of Peace. Accompanied by UNICEF Representative Catherine Mbengue, they travelled and filmed in dangerous areas of eastern Afghanistan with a film crew, interviewing children, government ministers, community leaders and UN officials. They also filmed at schools and visited various UNICEF-supported programmes inside and outside the capital Kabul. The efforts of Peace One Day are coordinated in celebration of the annual International Day of Peace, on 21 September. The film, named The Day After Peace, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. On 21 September 2008, the film was shown at a gala screening at the Royal Albert Hall.

On 30 August 2008, Law and Gilley returned to Afghanistan to help keep a momentum around Peace Day. They met President Hamid Karzai, top NATO and UN officials, and members of the aid community. They also screened the new documentary about the efforts in support of peace. The documentary features activities that took place throughout Afghanistan in 2007. It also highlights support from UNICEF and the WHO for the peaceful immunisation of 1.4 million children against polio in insecure areas.

Belarus

In 2011, Law joined street protests against Alexander Lukashenko and his brutal crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement.

Personal life

Law's parents live in Vaudelnay, France, where they run their own drama school and theatre. His sister Natasha is an illustrator and artist, living in London.

Law met actress Sadie Frost while working on the film Shopping. They married on 2 September 1997 and divorced on 29 October 2003. He has three children with Frost: son Rafferty (born 1996), daughter Iris (born 2000), and son Rudy (born 2002). In 2015, Rafferty was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men.

While making the film Alfie (2004) in late 2003, Law and co-star Sienna Miller began a relationship and became engaged on Christmas Day 2004. On 8 July 2005, Law issued a public apology to Miller for having an affair with his children's nanny. Miller and Law separated in November 2006.

On 29 July 2009, it was announced that Law would become a father for the fourth time, following a brief relationship with American model Samantha Burke in 2008. Burke gave birth to a daughter, Sophia, in September 2009 in New York.

In December 2009, it was reported that Law and Miller had rekindled their relationship after starring in separate shows on Broadway, in late 2009. They spent Christmas 2009 in Barbados, along with three of Law's children. They announced they had split again in February 2011.

In October 2014, Law announced that he was expecting a fifth child with Catherine Harding, with whom Law was "no longer in a relationship". Harding gave birth to their daughter Ada, in March 2015.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Tailor of Gloucester, TheThe Tailor of Gloucester	Sam, Mayor's Stableboy	Television film
1990	Families	Nathan Thompson	Television series
1991	Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, TheThe Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes	Joe Barnes	Television series; Episode: "Shoscombe Old Place"
1992	Crane, TheThe Crane	Young Man	Short film
1993	Marshal, TheThe Marshal	Bruno	Television series
1994	Shopping	Billy
1996	I Love You, I Love You Not	Ethan
1997	Bent	Stormtrooper
1997	Wilde	Lord Alfred Douglas	Evening Standard British Film Award - Most Promising Newcomer
1997	Gattaca	Jerome Eugene Morrow
1997	Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil	Billy Carl Hanson
1998	Music from Another Room	Danny
1998	Final Cut	Jude
1998	Wisdom of Crocodiles, TheThe Wisdom of Crocodiles	Steven Grlscz	aka Immortality
1999	eXistenZ	Ted Pikul
1999	Tube Tales	(director)	"A Bird in the Hand"
1999	Presence of Mind	Secretary
1999	Talented Mr. Ripley, TheThe Talented Mr. Ripley	Dickie Greenleaf	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor - Suspense Santa Fe Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Empire Award - Best British Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated—London Critics Circle Film Award - British Supporting Actor of the Year Nominated—MTV Movie Award - Best Musical Performance Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Teen Choice Award - Film Choice Breakout Performance Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
2000	Love, Honour and Obey	Jude
2000	Happy M'Gee	Tony M'Gee	Short film
2001	Enemy at the Gates	Vasily Zaytsev	Nominated—European Film Award Audience Award for Best Actor
2001	A.I. Artificial Intelligence	Gigolo Joe	Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002	Road to Perdition	Harlen Maguire	Nominated—Empire Award for Best British Actor Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Awards for Best British Supporting Actor Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
2003	Cold Mountain	W.P. Inman	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—Empire Award for Best British Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Nominated—IFTA Award - People's Choice Award for Best International Actor Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Awards for Best British Actor Nominated—MTV Movie Award - Best Trans-Atlantic Breakthrough Performer Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
2004	I Heart Huckabees	Brad Stand
2004	Alfie	Alfie
2004	Closer	Dan	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2004	Aviator, TheThe Aviator	Errol Flynn	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004	Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow	Sky Captain / Joseph Sullivan	Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss Nominated—Visual Effects Society Awards 2004 - Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film
2004	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events	Lemony Snicket
2006	All the King's Men	Jack Burden
2006	Breaking & Entering	Will Francis
2006	Holiday, TheThe Holiday	Graham	Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss Nominated—NRJ Ciné Award for Best Kiss
2007	My Blueberry Nights	Jeremy
2007	Sleuth	Milo
2009	Rage	Minx
2009	Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, TheThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus	Tony (2nd transformation)
2009	Sherlock Holmes	Dr. John Watson	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2010	Repo Men	Remy	Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor - Sci-Fi
2011	Contagion	Alan Krumwiede
2011	Hugo	Hugo's Father
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	Dr. John Watson
2012	360	Michael Daly
2012	Anna Karenina	Alexei Karenin
2012	Rise of the Guardians	Pitch (The Boogeyman)	Voice only Nominated - Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
2013	Side Effects	Dr. Jonathan Banks
2013	Dom Hemingway	Dom Hemingway
2014	The Grand Budapest Hotel	Young Author
2014	Black Sea	Captain Robinson
2015	Spy	Bradley Fine
2015	Toast of London	Himself	Episode: "Global Warming"
2016	Genius	Thomas Wolfe	Post-production
2016	The Young Pope	Pope Pius XIII	Television series
2017	Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur	Vortigen	Post-production

Soundtrack contributions

• "Ah, Leave Me Not to Pine", (The Pirates of Penzance), performed in Wilde, (1997)
• "Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano", performed in The Talented Mr. Ripley, with Matt Damon, Fiorello and the Guy Barker International Quintet, (1999)
• "Avenues and Alleyways", the 1973 Tony Christie song, performed with other crew members in Love, Honour and Obey, (2000)
• "Rock On", the David Essex song, performed in Love, Honour and Obey, (2000)
• "Opening song", performed in NBC's Saturday Night Live, with Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Ashlee Simpson, (2004)

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Director	Playwright	Venue
1987	Bodywork	Adrenalin		Richard Stilgoe	National Youth Music Theatre production Northcott Theatre, Exeter (The Exeter Festival) Edinburgh Festival Fringe
1988	The Ragged Child	Various roles		Jeremy James Taylor Frank Whately	National Youth Music Theatre production Sadler's Wells Theatre Northcott Theatre, Exeter Networked by BBC Television
1988	The Little Rats			Peter Allwood Jeremy James Taylor David Scott	National Youth Music Theatre production George Square Theatre (Edinburgh International Festival) National Theatre of Northern Greece, Thessaloniki The Opera House (The Municipal Theatre), Piraeus
1989	Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat	Joseph		Andrew Lloyd Webber Tim Rice	National Youth Music Theatre production Herriot Hall (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
1989	The Caucasian Chalk Circle			Bertolt Brecht	National Youth Music Theatre production Edinburgh Festival Fringe
1990	Captain Stirrick	Ned Stirrick	Eileen Chivers	Jeremy James Taylor David Scott	National Youth Music Theatre production George Square Theatre (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
1992	The Fastest Clock in the Universe	Foxtrot Darling	Matthew Lloyd	Philip Ridley	Hampstead Theatre
1992	Pygmalion	Freddie		George Bernard Shaw	Tour through Italy
1993	The Snow Orchid	Blaise	Tim Luscombe	Joe Pintauro	Gate Theatre
1993	Live Like Pigs	Col	Kate Mitchell	John Arden	Royal Court Theatre, 1 October - 30 November 1993
1993	Death of a Salesman	Happy	Matthew Warchus	Arthur Miller	West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
1994	Les Parents terribles	Michael	Sean Mathias	Jean Cocteau	Lyttelton Theatre
1995	Indiscretions	Michael	Sean Mathias	Jean Cocteau	Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway, 27 April - 4 November 1995
1995	Ion	Ion	Nicholas Wright	Euripides	Royal Shakespeare Company production The Pit at Barbican Arts Centre
1999	'Tis Pity She's a Whore	Giovanni	David Lan	John Ford	Young Vic Theatre
2002	Doctor Faustus	Doctor Faustus	David Lan	Christopher Marlowe	Young Vic Theatre
2006	Beckett at Reading, Gala Evening		Anthony Minghella	Samuel Beckett	Concert Hall, Reading, 2 April 2006
2009	Hamlet	Hamlet	Michael Grandage	William Shakespeare	Donmar at Wyndham's Theatre, 29 May - 22 August 2009 Kronborg Castle, Elsinore, 25 - 30 August 2009 Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, 6 October - 6 December 2009
2011	Anna Christie	Mat Burke	Rob Ashford	Eugene O'Neill	Donmar Warehouse, 4 August - 8 October 2011
2013-2014	Henry V	Henry V	Michael Grandage	William Shakespeare	Noël Coward Theatre, 23 November 2013 - 15 February 2014
2015	The Vote		Josie Rourke	James Graham	Donmar Warehouse, May 2015
2015	Letters Live				Hay Festival, Wales

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Result	Category
MTV Movie Award	2003	Nominated	MTV Movie Award as Best Trans-Atlantic Breakthrough Performer
ShoWest Award	2004	Won	ShoWest Award as Male Star of the Year
People's Choice Award	2005	Nominated	People's Choice Award as Favorite Leading Man
César Awards	2007	Won	César Awards as Honorary César
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival	2010	Won	President's Prize
Annie Awards	2012	Nominated	Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production in Rise of the Guardians

Theatre

Award	Year	Result	Category
Laurence Olivier Award	1994	Nominated	Laurence Olivier Award as Best Newcomer in a Play for: Les Parents terribles (1994)
	2010	Nominated	Laurence Olivier Award as Best Leading Actor in a Play for: Hamlet (2010)
	2012	Nominated	Laurence Olivier Award as Best Leading Actor in a Play for: Anna Christie (2012)
Ian Charleson Award	1994	Third prize	Ian Charleson Award for: Ion (1995)
	1999	Commendation	Ian Charleson Award for: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1999)
Tony Award	1995	Nominated	Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play for: Indiscretions (1995)
	2010	Nominated	Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Play for: Hamlet (2010)
Theatre World Award	1995	Won	Theatre World Award for: Indiscretions (1995)
Critics' Circle Theatre Award	2010	Won	The John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance for: Hamlet (2010)
South Bank Show Award	2010	Won	South Bank Show Award as Best Leading Actor for: Hamlet (2010)
Whatsonstage.com Award	2010	Won	Whatsonstage.com Award as Best Leading Actor for: Hamlet (2010)
	2012	Nominated	Whatsonstage.com Award as Best Leading Actor for: Anna Christie (2011)
Falstaff Award	2010	Won	Falstaff Award as Best Leading Actor for: Hamlet (2010)
Outer Critics Circle Award	2010	Nominated	Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Leading Actor for: Hamlet (2010)
Drama League Award	2010	Nominated	Drama League Award for Best Performance for: Hamlet (2010)
Drama Desk Award	2010	Nominated	Drama Desk Award for Best Performance for: Hamlet (2010)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]