“It was mind-boggling”: the Oscar-nominated role ripped out of Jude Law’s hands
Even an actor as successful as Jude Law is haunted by the exciting roles that he didn’t attain.
Although he is still a prominent working actor today, Law had attained a degree of popularity in the late 1990s and early 21st century that is hard to encapsulate. It was after his breakthrough roles in The Talented Mr Ripley and Gattaca that he became one of the most exciting young actors in quite some time, and began booking a tremendous amount of work. He was in so many films that he often had multiple high-profile releases within a year, a fact that Chris Rock even mentioned during his gig hosting the Academy Awards.
What is intriguing about him is that he is a truly chameleonic actor who could take on a multitude of roles, and be utterly captivating, whether playing a charismatic android in AI Artificial Intelligence, a ruthless soldier in Enemy at the Gates, an enigmatic assassin in Road to Perdition, or a romantic lead in Cold Mountain.
Thus, it made sense that any top director would be interested in having a meeting with him, especially someone as actor-oriented as Ridley Scott, who has always been ambitious and pursued projects of enormous spectacle. However, Gladiator was set to be the biggest film of his career because it was a true throwback to the sword-and-sandals epics of the past, and although finding an actor to play the hero Maximus Decius Meridius was no small feat, it proved to be more challenging to find someone for the role of Commodus, the primary villain.
Law was one of the first to test for the role, but Scott ultimately went in another direction entirely, surprising all when he and the film’s producer/co-writer, David Franzoni, selected Joaquin Phoenix, who was at the time a former child star best known for his work in Parenthood and To Die For, with, Franzoni feeling that he was the ideal actor to play the part.
“My wife and I will never forget the day they sent over Joaquin’s audition tape,” Franzoni said, “Everyone was like, ‘Joaquin Phoenix, isn’t he some kind of stoner surf kid?’ The audition tape was a knockout. It was mind-boggling.”
While Law had occasionally embraced method acting, Phoenix took his performance to the next level by showing a vulnerable, complex side to the character of Commodus, whose ruthlessness came from anger due to being denied love from his father, Marcus Aurelius, who had always viewed Maximus as his true heir.
It wasn’t the only time that Law made a career blunder, but it must have been fairly disappointing when considering how much acclaim Phoenix earned for the role. Gladiator became a massive success, winning ‘Best Picture’, and earned him his first Oscar nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for a role instantly ranked as one of cinema’s great villains. He was so essential to the film that Gladiator II was considered a disappointment because it did not have an antagonist as compelling as Commodus.
While Law may not have ever had a role of that calibre, he was able to eventually flex his villainous muscles by playing antagonistic roles in Captain Marvel, Rise of the Guardians, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Vox Lux.
