PHILADELPHIA — In “Contagion,” the fast, frightening
global pandemic drama opening Friday, Jude Law is a mad blogger, a Web
journo whose raging posts against Big Pharm and Big Gov turn incendiary
when people start dropping like flies.
Is Law’s Alan Krumwiede (pronounced “crum-woody) prophet or paranoiac? A voice of sanity in the chaos and dread, or a nutter?
“I
love that it’s left open for you to decide,” says Law, who clearly had a
ball playing this hustling Brit, a giant thorn in the side of health
officials trying to stanch the panic, and trying to find a vaccine.
Law
is on the phone from his dressing room in London’s Donmar Warehouse,
where he’s been playing Mat, the swaggering Irishman, in a much-praised
revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie.” He’s taking a break to talk
about deadly viruses and Steven Soderbergh, his “Contagion” director,
between the play’s matinee and evening performances.
“A
lot of the reason I wanted to be a part of this project was because the
script was so strong, and obviously a strong script and a brilliant
director like Steven, you feel, as an actor, confident that you’re
almost halfway there,” says Law, who dove deep into the blogosphere to
research his role.
“I don’t want to list anyone in
particular,” he says, asked to cite a couple of influential bloggers.
“I’d rather people see it and draw on their own imagination, but yeah, I
certainly looked at an awful lot of blogs, and bloggers who have been
interviewed and who have made a bit of a name for themselves, who have
become personalities. … I drew on a few and tried to create someone
that seemed to fit that particular persona.
“And
yet, what was most exciting was that Steven didn’t want to judge him, he
didn’t want him to necessarily be a bad guy. … Maybe this guy was
correct all along, who knows?”
Crisscrossing the
planet, “Contagion” interweaves multiple storylines, beginning with
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Beth, returning from a Hong Kong business trip and
heading home to Minnesota — where she lives with her husband, played by
Matt Damon. Law doesn’t share any scenes with Damon and Paltrow, but the
three have worked together before, most notably on “The Talented Mr.
Ripley.’
Others in “Contagion’s” sprawling cast
include Jennifer Ehle as a Centers for Disease Control scientist,
Laurence Fishburne as her boss, Kate Winslet as another CDC doctor, and
Demetri Martin, John Hawkes, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Marion Cotillard
and Elliott Gould.
Law does get a fiery scene or two with the latter, the veteran Hollywood star.
“What
a joy that was,” he says, laughing. “That was a really happy and
exciting couple of days on my part. I made many phone calls back to my
mum. ‘I’m working with Elliott Gould!’ She was over the moon.”
Twice
nominated for Oscars, Law has been going nonstop these past few years.
From “Contagion” he went to work in London and Vienna on “360,” Fernando
Meirelles’ relationship drama, opposite Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins,
Ben Foster, and Eminem.
Law did “a very, very
small” part in “Hugo,” Martin Scorsese’s family fantasy. “Anything Marty
puts his hands on is going to be exciting. And this being a film for
youngsters, and based on a book that I adored by Brian Selznick and in
3-D was just intriguing, so I was pleased to be a part of it.”
And
then he reteamed with Robert Downey Jr. for another Sherlock Holmes
adventure. Law plays Watson to Downey’s action-hero sleuth. “Sherlock
Holmes: A Game of Shadows” opens Dec. 16.
“Literally,
it felt like there was no gap,” Law says about returning to director
Guy Ritchie’s steampunk take on Arthur Conan Doyle. “We went into it
with a little more confidence and swagger. We were very proud of the
last one, but when you pick up a canon like that, it’s hard to know how
the world will respond.
“And (audiences) were really enthusiastic, and appreciative.”
(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)
Law
says that Noomi Rapace, of the original Swedish-made “Girl With the
Dragon Tattoo” and its sequels, plays a Gypsy in “Game of Shadows,” and
Jared Harris is on board as the infamous Professor Moriarty.
And
are Law, Downey, and Ritchie likely to do another Holmes and Watson if
their sequel is a hit? Are the two actors going to turn into the Basil
Rathbone and Nigel Bruce of the 21st century?
“It’s
not up to me, obviously, but I don’t see why not,” Law muses. “I love
working with Robert and Guy and the whole team. I’m a big fan of the
books, and there’s obviously huge amounts of material to dip into and
use and be inspired by, so we’ll see.
“I always
steal a line that Robert said: If everyone else is as enthusiastic and
happy for us to carry on doing it, then we’ll probably carry on doing
it.”
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