FLESHING OUT: Jude Law plays Dom Hemingway, a damaged, hot-headed crook released from prison after a 12-year stint for not ratting on his crime boss.

Jude Law explodes as hot-headed safecracker in the latest film. By Patricia Reaney

With an extra 20lbs, an impressive paunch and bad teeth, actor Jude Law, best known for his golden boy roles, transforms himself into a sleazy, ranting southeast London safecracker in the film Dom Hemingway.

It is Law, Oscar nominated for The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain, as he hasn’t been seen before — unfit, unkempt and with a penchant for delivering expletive-filled speeches.

In the film, which opens in select US theatres this week, Law plays Dom Hemingway, a damaged, hot-headed crook released from prison after a 12-year stint for not ratting on his crime boss.

He paid a high price for his loyalty in lost years, missed opportunities and estrangement from his daughter and is hell-bent on collecting his money and making up for lost time. The role enabled Law, 41, to mine the southeast London streets of his childhood for the character and to discard any lingering remnants of his matinee idol image.

“The golden boy thing was never a mantle I went out looking for. That was something I was told I was,” said Law, adding that for him it was always about the work.

“To me it was like who cares if it’s about the work? And now, having walked those minefields and survived, and having worked for 20-odd years, it feels like at last having gone over that hump we can maybe just talk about the work,” he added.

From the opening scene when he pontificates about his manhood, through drinking binges and brawls, Law holds nothing back as Hemingway, who is the complete opposite of the tightly coiled Russian aristocrat Karenin he played in the 2012 drama Anna Karenina, based on Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 novel.

“The joy of the job is getting to mine these different characters,” he said.

The website film.com called Law’s Hemingway “a career-best performance,” and Scotland’s Daily Record said he “fills the screen with a gloriously over-the-top character.”

“Dom Hemingway gives (Law) a chance to sink his teeth into one of the meatiest personalities in a genre know for larger-than-life types,” said the trade magazine Variety.

American screenwriter and director Richard Shepard (The Matador) was a big fan of British gangster movies such as Sexy Beast and Mona Lisa, and always wanted to make a film in the British capital.

“I had the DNA of a lot of British gangster movies in my brain,” he said. “This is about a low-level safecracker who is a mess.”

Richard E Grant (Withnail and I) plays Hemingway’s loyal friend Dickie, a part Shepard wrote for him. Mexican actor Demian Bichir, a 2012 best actor nominee for A Better Life, is Hemingway’s former boss and Emilia Clarke, of HBO’s Game of Thrones, is his daughter Evelyn.

For the title role Shepard envisioned an actor who had never played a gangster type before.

“I wanted someone who is a matinee idol a hair or two past his matinee-idol time and who is a risk-taker by nature,” he said. “Very early on in the process Jude’s name came up.”

Law, who collaborated with Shepard in fleshing out Hemingway, was attracted by his honesty, unpolished offensiveness, poetic wit and his explosive energy. “The energy of this man was what drew, in a way, drew me to him, the opportunity to unleash. There was a lot of unleashing,” Law said.  “It was a chance to play someone who is completely unfiltered and raging and ranting. It was wonderfully cathartic,” he added. — Reuters

Harry Potter spinoff to turn into movie trilogy

If all goes well, Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them could be turn into a movie trilogy. According to The New York Times, the book, published in 2001 and billed as one of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbooks, will be adapted by Warner Bros into “three megamovies”. In an interview with the publication, Warner Bros’ CEO Kevin Tsujihara confirmed that the stories, which are not prequels or sequels, would be set in New York about 70 years before Harry Potter, reports digitialspy.co.uk. David Heyman will produce the films, about a “magizoologist” named Newt Scamander.

Rowling also praised Tsujihara, saying: “When I say he made Fantastic Beasts happen, it isn’t PR-speak, but the literal truth. “We had one dinner, a follow-up telephone call, and then I got out the rough draft that I’d thought was going to be an interesting bit of memorabilia for my kids and started rewriting!”

She continued: “When Kevin got the top job, he brought a new energy, which rubbed off. He’s a very engaging person, thoughtful and funny.”

Rowling previously revealed that she penned the first screenplay draft of Fantastic Beasts in 12 days. — IANS

Jennifer Garner besotted with son

Actress Jennifer Garner is besotted with her son Samuel and admits there is “nothing like” the love she gets from him. The Draft Day star has three children, including daughters Violet, eight, and Seraphina, five, with her husband Ben Affleck. “With a little boy, you have somebody who is going to love his mama. There’s nothing like it,” contactmusic.com quoted the 41-year-old as saying. She also says her entire family are sports fanatics and love hosting American football parties for their friends. “(Ben) watches and I manage the chaos behind him so that he can watch. When I talk about managing chaos, I’m talking about managing three little chaotic people, plus whatever friends bring their chaos over and we try to let the guys watch as much as we can,” she said.

‘’My little dude does love a football. He can already sit and watch an entire game. He really gets it,” added Garner. – IANS

Paltrow, Martin aim for conflict-free divorce

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Chris Martin plan to end their marriage amicably and the couple has reportedly decided not to fight over money and custody. If sources are to be believed, the divorce will be relatively quick and there are no apparent conflicts. They will not fight over money and they won’t fight over custody, reports tmz.com. The couple have two children — Apple, 9, and Moses, 7. Sources close to the former couple told the website that this is “not a separation”. They are definitely getting divorced. But both are concerned about serious PR damage if the divorce turns ugly, and they don’t want to open the door to media reports about them straying from the marriage as well as other issues. Their concern is that even if the case doesn’t go to trial, any allegation put down in legal documents could end up getting leaked and both Gwyneth and Chris agree that’s the worst case scenario for both of them. – IANS

Cooper still in love with Waterhouse

 Actor Bradley Cooper is still madly in love with model-girlfriend Suki Waterhouse and the two are “very much” together. The American Hustle star recently sparked rumours that he had split from Waterhouse after more than a year of dating, amid reports he had reconnected with his ex-girlfriend Renee Zellweger, but friends close to the couple insist they are still very happy together.

“Bradley and Suki are very much a couple,” contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying.

The duo haven’t been seen together since attending a post-Oscars bash in Los Angeles in early March. – IANS