Category - Celebrities
Jude Law Recalls the Film That Was a 'Bad Move' for His Career
Throughout his wide-ranging, decades-long career, Jude Law has played nearly every kind of role imaginable, working under acclaimed directors including Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Soderbergh. But while they can't all be hits, the 51-year-old recently looked back on one particular misfire relatively early into his career.
In 2004, just five years after his breakthrough role in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Law starred in the romantic comedy Alfie, which was a remake of the 1966 film of the same name starring Michael Caine. And while it was just one of six films the actor released that year (including Scorsese's The Aviator and David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees) it was an unmitigated disaster. The film grossed just $35 million of its $60 million budget and the critical response was likewise tepid.
In a new GQ profile for the magazine's Men of the Year issue, Law got candid on his "first major flop," which he admits he only agreed to against his better instincts.
"I was in a really strong position because I’d just had another [Oscar] nomination on the back of Cold Mountain, and for Alfie to be the film I chose to do quite soon after that, I think was a bad move," he admitted, noting that "his heart sank" after seeing an early screening of the film. The publication notes that he had "imagined something grittier, with more to say."
"I just felt it hadn’t elevated [the material] and felt a little light, a little too cheesy," Law continued. "I think it was made for too much money, and I was probably paid too much money, which I underestimated at the time. I kicked myself that I’d done something that was leaning into the heartthrob and the charismatic lead and it hadn’t worked."
When asked if the film affected his confidence, he conceded that it probably did. "Everyone has hits, everyone has flops," he reasoned. "But yes, I think it did. It also made me aware that, when you are fresh out of the gate, everyone is intrigued and everyone wants a piece of you. And then as soon as you have a couple of misfires, their attention goes elsewhere. And so there’s a part of you also thinking, Oh, OK, how do I get that attention back?"
Thankfully, as everyone is well aware, Law did indeed manage to get that attention back. After a two year hiatus from acting, he dove back in with critical and commercial successes in the coming years such as Sherlock Holmes, Hugo, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and so on. Next, he'll appear in the Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, as well as the Ron Howard survival thriller Eden, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.