Jude Law Says People 'Objectifying' Him Would Have Been ‘Told Off’ If He Were A Woman

Jude Law is speaking out against the “objectifying” he received early in his Hollywood career. In an interview with Variety published Wednesday, the actor reflected on one of his seminal films, 1999’s “ The Talented Mr. Ripley ,” which also starred Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow.

His portrayal of Dickie Greenleaf in the film nabbed him an Academy Award and made him a sex symbol to legions of fans. Five years after the release of “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Law was selected as People magazine’s “ Sexiest Man Alive .

” It was at that point, he now acknowledges, that he began to grow “frustrated” by the hyper-fixation on his physical appearance. “Interestingly, I was talking about this to a friend,” he told Variety. “He made a good point.

He said, ‘If you were a woman, people would have been told off for objectifying you.’ I think it frustrated me because I was this young guy desperately keen to have an acting career and for people to talk about that , as opposed to what I looked like.” As an example, the article points to Law’s 2004 appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” when he appeared to laugh nervously as DeGeneres suggested that men were getting plastic surgery to copy his lips.

Prior to “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Law was primarily known as a theater actor in his native England. The movie’s success led to his casting in a plethora of high-profile projects, including 2001’s “ A.

I.: Artificial Intelligence ” and 2003’s.