Jude Law

Background

David Jude Heyworth Law was born in Lewisham, London, England on December 29, 1972. He is the second child of Peter Robert Law and Margaret Anne Heyworth; both of them were orphans. He has an older sister named Natasha. Law spent most of his childhood growing up in Blackheath, an area on the southeastern side of London. He studied at John Ball Primary School and the Kidbrooke School before going to Alleyn’s School. Law’s acting career began when he joined the National Youth Music Theater in 1987. Among his earliest major stage roles was in Philip Ridley’s “The Fastest Clock in the Universe” as Foxtrot Darling. His performance as Michael in the 1994 West End production of Jean Cocteau’s “Les Parents Terribles” earned him the Ian Charleson Award for Outstanding Newcomer. Law acted on the stage alongside Kathleen Turner, Cynthia Nixon, and Roger Rees, winning an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theater (Tony Award) and the Theater World Award.

The first T.V. role that Law was featured in was 1989’s “The Tailor of Gloucester,” a movie based on a children’s book by Beatrix Potter. After starring in several small roles in various British T.V. series, he received his first major leading role in “Shopping,” a 1994 British crime drama where he played opposite Sadie Frost, who would later become his wife. He won the Most Promising Newcomer from the Evening Standard British Film Award for his portrayal of Lord Alfred Douglas in “Wilde,” a 1997 biopic of Oscar Wilde. Law’s breakthrough role came in 1999 when he was cast alongside Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Anthony Minghella’s psychological thriller, “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Law went back to London’s theater in May 2009 to play the lead role in William Shakespeare’s famous “Hamlet.” He received the John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance. In that same year, Law appeared in Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes.” He reprised his role in the movie’s sequel in 2011, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”

Law portrayed Lenny Belardo or Pius XIII in “The Young Pope,” which began airing on Sky Atlantic, H.B.O., and Canal+ in October 2016. He reprised the role in the 2020’s spin-off, “The New Pope.” Some of his most recent works were the movie adaptions of J.K. Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” in 2018 and 2022 where he appeared as young Albus Dumbledore. In 2019, Law played the character Yon-Rogg in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s global box office success, “Captain Marvel.” Law was married to his “Shopping” co-star, Frost, from September 1997 to October 2003. The couple had three children. Law had a short-lived relationship in 2008 with American model Samantha Burke, who subsequently gave birth to his fourth child in September 2009. His fifth child was born to Catherine Harding in 2015. Law married Phillipa Coan on May 1, 2019. The couple’s first child, as well as Law’s sixth child, was born in September 2020.