David Jude Heyworth Law[1] (born 29 December 1972)[2] is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary César and was named a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.[1][3]

Born and raised in London, Law started acting in theatre. After finding small roles in feature films, Law gained recognition for his role in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for an Academy Award. He found further critical and commercial success in Enemy at the Gates (2001), Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition (2002). He continued to gain praise for starring in the war film Cold Mountain (2003), the drama Closer (2004), and the romantic comedy The Holiday (2006), gaining Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for the first.

Law played Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), a younger Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), and Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel (2019); all of which rank among his highest-grossing releases. His other notable roles were in Contagion (2011), Hugo (2011), Side Effects (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Spy (2015); and the television series The Young Pope (2016) and The New Pope (2020).

Law has performed in several West End and Broadway productions including Les Parents terribles in 1994, Hamlet in 2010, and Anna Christie in 2011.[4] He received Tony Award nominations for the first and second.

Law was born on 29 December 1972 in Lewisham, South London, the second child of Margaret Anne Heyworth and Peter Robert Law, both teachers. His father later became, according to Law, "the youngest headmaster in London".[1][5] His mother was adopted but was later reunited with her Welsh birth mother, Meinwen Parry.[6] He has a sister, Natasha.[5] Law was named David after one of his parents' best friends, but called by his middle name since birth. The name Jude was taken from "a bit of both" the book Jude the Obscure and the Beatles song "Hey Jude".[5] Law grew up in Blackheath, an area in the Borough of Greenwich,[7] and was educated at John Ball Primary School in Blackheath and Kidbrooke School, before attending Alleyn's School.[5]

Career[edit source]
1987–1999: Early work and breakthrough[edit source]
Law began acting in 1987 with the National Youth Music Theatre.[8] 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.[5] 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.[9][10] This role earned him a Tony Award nomination[11] and the Theatre World Award.[12]

In 1989, Law received his first television role, in a film based on the Beatrix Potter children's book, The Tailor of Gloucester. Law would then go on to have minor roles in various British television series, including a two-year stint in the Granada TV produced ITV soap opera Families, and in the episode "Shoscombe Old Place" in ITV's Sherlock Holmes, as well as the leading role in the BFI /Channel 4 short The Crane.

In 1994, Law appeared in his first major leading film role with the British crime drama Shopping, which also featured his then future wife, Sadie Frost. In 1997, he rose to prominence with his role in the Oscar Wilde biopic Wilde.[5] Law won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his portrayal of Lord Alfred Douglas, the glamorous young lover of Stephen Fry's Wilde.[13] In Andrew Niccol's science fiction film Gattaca, Law played the role of a disabled former swimming star living in a eugenics-obsessed dystopia.[5] In Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, he played the role of Billy Hanson, a male prostitute killed by an art dealer portrayed by Kevin Spacey. In 1998, Jude Law played Steven Grlscz, a vampire and an expert seducer, in The Wisdom of Crocodiles.