JUDE LAW

Biography

David Jude Law was born on December 29, 1972, and grew up in Southeast London with his parents and older sister. Jude started acting at the age of 12 with the National Youth Music Theatre. At 17, he landed a recurring role on the popular British daytime soap Families, after having dropped out of school to pursue a full-time acting career. Several years later, Law was touring Europe, doing stage performances.

Jude Law toured Italy in a stage production of Shaw's Pygmalion, was praised for his performance in Euripides' Ions, and played Michael in Cocteau's Les Parents Terribles. When the play was exported to Broadway and renamed Indiscretions in 1995, Law was the only member from the original cast to be exported as well. His role as Michael earned him a Tony nomination.

jude law in the talented mr. ripley

In 1996, Law began appearing on the big screen, starting with a role opposite Claire Danes in I Love You, I Love You Not. A year later he began to take on more supporting roles, including the role of Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, Oscar Wilde's lover in the biopic Wilde, a genetically engineered man in the sci-fi film Gattaca, a bisexual murder victim in Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Dickie Greenleaf in 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley. His role as spoiled and arrogant Dickie earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

jude law in a.i.

In 2000, Law played "Jude" in Love, Honour and Obey and followed it up with a role in 2001's Enemy at the Gates, co-starring Ed Harris and Joseph Fiennes. He also teamed up with Steven Spielberg in the overhyped sci-fi flick A.I., in which he portrayed Gigolo Joe.

Although Jude only appeared in two films in two years -- 2002's Road to Perdition and 2003's Cold Mountain -- he more than made up for it in 2004. With no less than six films to his credit in one year, Jude is currently one of the most popular leading men in show business.

jude law is alfie and gets closer

Jude did it all in 2004: indie existentialism in I Heart Huckabees (with Naomi Watts and Dustin Hoffman), big-budget retro sci-fi in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (reuniting him with Gwyneth and co-starring Angelina Jolie), cool remake in Alfie (with Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei), romance in Closer (with Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman), family fantasy in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (with Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep), and a small role as Errol Flynn in the Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator (with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role).

Although he's afraid of overkill, Law isn't resting, as he already has two movies lined up for 2005: All the King's Men, with Kate Winslet and Sean Penn, and Dexterity.

jude law and sadie frost

On a personal note, it was his role in the 1994 British film Shopping that could be considered his life altering one, as he was cast opposite actress Sadie Frost, whom he married in 1997. The young couple lived with their children in London's posh Primrose Hill.

In addition to their parenting responsibilities (they have two sons, Rafferty and Finley -- who is Jude's stepson -- and two daughters, Iris and Rudy), they are also partners in the production company Natural Nylon. They founded the company with fellow actors Ewan McGregor (The Phantom Menace, Trainspotting), Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) and Sean Pertwee (Shopping). They already have eXistenZ under their belt and have several future projects under development.

jude law makes headlines

Although he has the line "You came along to turn on everyone, sexy Sadie" from the Beatles song "Sexy Sadie" tattooed on his arm, Jude Law and Sadie Frost filed for divorce in 2003. Their separation and his budding romance with Alfie co-star Sienna Miller became popular tabloid fodder, especially in the UK.