Jude Law has revealed the film in his career that he feels was “too cheesy” and that he now considers was “a bad move” to have made.
The two-time Oscar nominee spoke to GQ recently, where he was asked about one particular entry in his extensive filmography that he now feels less than enthusiastic about.
Law played the title role in the 2004 romance Alfie, a remake of the 1966 film of the same name with Michael Caine. Written and directed by Charles Shyer, it was a box office failure, making back just over half of its £45million budget and being critically panned.
“I was in a really strong position [at that time] because I’d just had another [Oscar] nomination on the back of Cold Mountain,” he said. “For Alfie to be the film I chose to do quite soon after that, I think was a bad move.”
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“I just felt it hadn’t elevated [the material] and felt a little light, a little too cheesy,” he added. “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.”
He admitted that the role “probably did” knock his confidence, “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?”
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In other Law news, he revealed last month that he secretly followed around Nicholas Hoult before they filmed their new movie The Order together.
The film follows an ageing FBI agent, Terry Husk (played by Law), as he uncovers a rising white nationalist group and its leader, Robert Jay Matthews (Hoult).
Law was asked to follow Hoult around for a day without being detected and to create a dossier of his activities, just as the FBI agent he plays would do.
“It’s hard,” Law said of the task he was given, but he went on to find it “very rewarding.”
He added: “It’s symbolic of the kind of director he is, how he builds the relationship with the actor and ultimately the character, and how he can then use that on the set. There was such an intuitive sense between the two of us of who Husk was by the time we started to film.”
The actor also “burst the bubble” for fans of The Holiday recently by revealing that the cottage from the film does not exist.
He also shared in his love for Radiohead earlier this year, saying they are ”just blistering with talent” and claiming he would be “honoured” to work with them one day.