They say to never have any regrets, but it can happen to the best of us – even Jude Law.
This week, Law admitted he has big regrets surrounding starring in the ‘cheesy’ movie Alfie, calling it a ‘bad move’ in an interview with GQ. ‘Everyone has hits, everyone has flops. But yes, I think it did. It also made me aware that, when you are fresh out of the gate, everyone is intrigued and everyone wants a piece of you,’ he said. ‘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?”’
The 2004 film Alfie was a remake of the 60s film with Michael Caine, in which Law starred as a womaniser, who uses his job as a limo driver to sleep with attractive women. The movie ended up being a box-office flop, and only managed to earn back just over half of its $60 million budget. It was not received well by critics either.
Talking about his reasons for taking on the film, Law told GQ ‘I was in a really strong position [at that time] because I’d just had another [Oscar] nomination on the back of Cold Mountain, and for Alfie to be the film I chose to do quite soon after that, I think was a bad move.’
He went on to say he was disappointed when he saw an early screening of the film, as he hoped it would be more meaningful. ‘I just felt it hadn’t elevated [the material] and felt a little light, a little too cheesy,’ he said. ‘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.’
It wasn’t all bad, though. Jude met Sienna Miller on the set of Alfie in 2003, and they dated for a year before getting engaged in 2004. The pair were together for a couple more years, splitting up when Law had an affair with his children’s nanny.
In an interview on this Life of Mine with James Corden in May this year, Miller described their whirlwind romance as ‘the most surreal experience,’ continuing ‘It was in many ways the most exciting moment. I just started working and I was in a big film and in love with this idol, and very, very happy, but the flip side of it was so dark, so quickly.’
Following Alfie, Law bounced back with several hit roles, including Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies and Melissa McCarthy’s Spy. His most recent movie, The Order, received a huge standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival this year.