Jude was born on December 29, 1972. Both his parents were teachers and he had an older sister, Natasha, a graphics designer. Jude's parents named him after the Thomas Hardy novel, "Jude the Obscure." Although he once stated on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" that he had gotten the name from the Beatles song, Hey Jude. He originally grew up in Southeast London. His eduation began at a government school, but when it became too violent he was moved to a private school. He joined the National Youth Music Theatre at the age of 12. "From when I was 13, the theater was something that I absolutely connected with," he has said.

At 18 he dropped out of school to star in a TV soap opera called Families. Jude now explains that he didn't particularly like it, getting paid a good amount of money for something he wasn't proud of made him dislike the situation. He insists though that it was a good experience.

After the show he decided to go back to theatre and in 1992 toured Italy in "Pygmalion" playing Freddie. When he returned to London he starred as Foxtrot Darling in "The Fastest Clock in the Universe." The play was recognized as Best New Play by Time Out Theatre Awards. The following year he appeared at the Gate Theater in the British premiere of "The Snow Orchid." Jude then did the acclaimed revival of "Live Like Pigs" at the Royal Court Theatre and "Death of a Salesman" at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Mr.Law's most memorable performance was in "Indiscretions" where he appeared nude. The play was originally titled "Les Parents Terribles" during its London run, but was changed to "Indiscretions" when it was on Broadway. Kathleen Turner and Eileen Atkins also starred in the Broadway version. His performance in this play got him a nomination for the Oliver Award of "Outstanding Newcomer" and a Tony Nomination for "Outstanding Supporting Actor." He was then awarded the Theatre World Award. Jude was also nominated for the Ian Charleston Award as Best Young Classical Actor for his performances in "Indiscretions " and Euripedes' "Ion" at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Jude also starred in a short film called "The Crane" for the British Film Institute. Afterwards he did a movie called "Shopping" which was released in the U.K. in 1994 and in 1996 in the U.S. Sadie Frost also starred.

"Acting was all I wanted, and I never saw any reason why I wouldn't be on stage, or in a film, or on TV," he says."I went to school as sort of a part-time job, and the theater company was what was going to happen."

Jude Law has been in many notable films lately. The Talented Mr. Ripley had gotten him a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. More and more we are beginning to see him pop up in films. You can catch him now in Artificial Intelligence (A.I.).

He is also a partner in the production company Natural Nylon. His partners include Lee Miller, Johnny, Ewan McGregor, and his wife Sadie Frost. With his production company producing, and Jude acting, his career seems to be on the rise.