Jude Law Says Being Objectified For His Looks Was Frustrating

Jude Law is speaking out against the “objectifying” he received early in his Hollywood career.

In an interview with Variety published Wednesday, the actor reflected on one of his seminal films, 1999’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” which also starred Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow. His portrayal of Dickie Greenleaf in the film nabbed him an Academy Award and made him a sex symbol to legions of fans.

Five years after the release of “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Law was selected as People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive.” It was at that point, he now acknowledges, that he began to grow “frustrated” by the hyper-fixation on his physical appearance.

“Interestingly, I was talking about this to a friend,” he told Variety. “He made a good point. He said, ‘If you were a woman, people would have been told off for objectifying you.’ I think it frustrated me because I was this young guy desperately keen to have an acting career and for people to talk about that, as opposed to what I looked like.”

As an example, the article points to Law’s 2004 appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” when he appeared to laugh nervously as DeGeneres suggested that men were getting plastic surgery to copy his lips.

Prior to “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Law was primarily known as a theater actor in his native England. The movie’s success led to his casting in a plethora of high-profile projects, including 2001’s “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” and 2003’s “Cold Mountain,” for which he received his second Oscar nomination.

But being catapulted to global fame left him “feeling really invaded by people prying into … my private life,” he said, alluding to the media frenzy when he divorced his first wife, Sadie Frost, and began a relationship with his “Alfie” co-star, Sienna Miller.

“It was never the job aspect,” he told Variety. “Going to a premiere or promoting something was part of the job. But being invaded was something that always made me bristle. So, sadly, I always associated the experience with that discomfort. I really don’t want to go over old ground, but there was a chapter afterwards, as things got more and more intense in that way.”

These days, Law says, “the attention of the photographers and the prying eyes” have moved on. Since 2019, he’s been married to psychologist Phillipa Coan, with whom he shares two children.

Variety’s interview with Law comes as the actor is gearing up for the release of a number of high-profile projects, including the films “Eden” and “The Order.” In December, he’ll appear in the Disney+ series “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”