After starring in films directed by Andrew Niccol, Clint Eastwood and David Cronenberg, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1999 for his performance in Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. in 2006, he was one of the top ten most bankable movie stars in Hollywood. Law was born in Lewisham, South London, the second child of comprehensive school teachers Margaret Anne (née Heyworth) and Peter Robert Law; his father later became, according to Law, “the youngest headmaster in London”. Law was named after a “bit of both” the book Jude the Obscure and the song Hey Jude. He grew up in Blackheath, an area in the Borough of Lewisham, and was educated at John Ball Primary School in Blackheath and Kidbrooke School, before attending the Alleyn’s School. This role earned him a Tony Award nomination and the Theatre World Award. in Andrew Niccol’s science fiction film Gattaca, Law played the role of a disabled former swimming star living in a eugenics-obsessed dystopia. Law, an admirer of Laurence Olivier, used the actor’s image in the 2004 film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
