Jude Law, 51, embraces his ‘saggy and balding’ looks after shedding sex symbol image-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro

Yes, this is Jude Law (Picture: Roadside Attractions Films)

Jude Law is embracing being ‘saggy and balding’, he says.

The 51-year-old actor looks almost unrecognisable for his new role as Henry VIII in the film Firebrand.

We still think of Jude as that swoon-worthy dad in The Holiday, but buckle in for a shock because that was 18 years ago. Gulp.

In an interview about getting older, Jude admitted that he never really embraced those classic heartthrob roles as a younger actor, but now looking back he wishes he had.

Chatting to DuJour magazine, he said: ‘I didn’t feel like I really ever leaned into playing handsome, but there were roles that required an attractive energy. 

‘I was trying to play against my looks in my early 20s, and now that I’m saggy and balding, I wish I had played it up.’

But this is also Jude Law at 51 – phew! (it was just the costume, folks) (Picture: Sean Zanni/WireImage)

We will always remember Jude Law as the hot brother and dad in The Holiday (Picture: Columbia/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)

Jude also famously starred in 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley alongside Matt Damon (Picture: Everett/REX/Shutterstock)

Recently Jude has taken on roles that don’t lean into attraction, as he admitted: ‘It’s been satisfying not having to turn that switch on.’

The new film sees Jude playing opposite Alicia Vikander, who stars as the king’s final wife – Catherine Parr – after his others were famously divorced, beheaded, or died.

Snaps of Jude in character see him adopt some of Henry VIII’s looks, and his regal attire including a feathered hat, grey, scraggly beard and bigger eye bags than we’re used to.

Jude explained how in order to mimic the former King of England’s bigger figure he wore a huge weighted costume, and he previously revealed that with the help of a specialist perfumer he doused himself in a ‘blood, faecal matter and sweat’ scent for the role.

He said: ‘I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil. I thought it would have a great impact if I smelled awful.’

Director Karim Aïnouz admitted it was effective: ‘When he walked in on set, it was just horrible.

Pictures of Jude in his new role may be unsettling for many millennials, but thankfully his recent red carpet appearance proves he’s still much Jude Law in real life.

We can’t get over Jude’s recent transformation for his new film (Picture: Roadside Attractions Films)

In 1991 Jude looked so young at 19 (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Jude also starred in My Blueberry Nights around the time of his The Holiday era (Picture: Press/REX/Shutterstock)

Elsewhere in the interview, Jude referred to himself as an ‘excessive dad’ because he thinks about his seven children ‘all the time’.

Jude’s eldest son Rafferty has taken after him, having appeared in Masters of the Air – 2024’s answer to Band of Brothers – alongside Austin Butler, Callum Turner and Barry Keoghan.

Of his son’s foray into acting, Jude admitted it must be hard with people perhaps putting his son’s success down to his father’s fame, but he rubbished this, adding: ‘His career is his career.’

Jude and Phillipa Coan married in 2019 and welcomed a child – Phillipa’s first and Jude’s sixth – a year later. In February last year, the pair were spotted with a buggy, leading to rumours they’d welcomed another child together, though neither have ever officially confirmed this.

The Talented Mr Ripley star has seven children with four women in total, with his eldest now approaching their thirties.

In 1997 the movie star married actress Sadie Frost, welcoming son Rafferty, now 27, daughter Iris, 23, and second son Rudy, now 21, together.

The couple divorced in 2003, and a year later he was engaged to actress Sienna Miller – however they split in 2006 as he was accused of cheating with his children’s nanny.

Jude welcomed his fourth child, Sophia, now 13, in 2009, after a short relationship with US model Samantha Burke.

His fifth, another daughter named Ada, arrived in 2015 after another brief relationship with singer Catherine Harding, also known as Cat Cavelli.

Then came his two children with wife Phillipa, who the pair have kept out of the spotlight.

He confirmed the birth of his sixth child during an appearance on The Tonight Show in September 2020.

‘It’s really wonderful,’ the actor said. ‘We feel pretty blessed that we were in a time where we could, as a family, just nest and enjoy each other’s company and every day as it came.’

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