Despite roles in such major franchises as Harry Potter, MCU and most recently, Star Wars, Jude Law is nostalgic for a bygone era of Hollywood.
The 2x Oscar nominee, whose Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew premieres Monday, recently reflected on his early years as an actor making mid-budget films, which he says currently represent “a gaping hole” in the entertainment industry.
“I mean, I feel very lucky that when I came into this business, they were making [mid-budget films],” Law told the Associated Press. “And some of those first films that I got to make with people like Anthony (Minghella), looking back now, it’s remarkable that we were allowed to get away with that. But it’s also an era, it’s a type of film and type of storytelling that I think we miss. Giving the correct kind of budget and time and patience to stories like that is absolutely at the heart of filmmaking, and I think it’s a gaping hole at the moment.”
Minghella directed Law on The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Cold Mountain (2003) and Breaking and Entering (2006), earning Oscar nominations for the actor on the first two collaborations.
Law previously admitted he was “probably paid too much money” for his 2004 film Alfie, explaining to British GQ that he was in a “really strong position” at the time after his second nomination, and he now considers the remake “a bad move.”
Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).
Paramount Pictures
“I just felt it hadn’t elevated [the material] and felt a little light, a little too cheesy,” explained Law. “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.”