Jude Law wishes he’d embraced good looks before he became ‘saggy and balding’

Jude Law wishes he’d embraced his good looks before he became “saggy and balding”.

The 51-year-old actor has admitted he used to try and avoid roles that played on his heart throb reputation early in his career, but now he regrets not making the most of it.

Speaking 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.”

As his career has progressed, the actor has tried to take on roles which haven’t “leaned in to any sort of attraction”.

He added: “It’s been satisfying not having to turn that switch on.”

That’s no more clear than his new role as Henry VIII in Firebrand, which saw the Hollywood star throw himself into every aspect of the character.

He explained: “It took so much time every morning to get into this huge, weighted costume and I would stay in it for the rest of the day.

“You could rehearse in jeans and a T-shirt, but then you would turn up in this enormous outfit and realise you’re going to knock everyone over.

“So you might as well maintain that sense of Henry’s shape and size.”

Jude even tried to match the king’s infamously “awful” scent, as he wanted to add to the authenticity of the performance.

He revealed: “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.”

To make sure he smelled the part, he turned to a special parfumier, who helped create a truly unsettling scent for him to wear.

He said: “She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents.

“She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, faecal matter and sweat. Initially, I used it very subtly. But then it became a spray fest.”