Jude Law: A Law unto Himself

What got you interested in Sky Captain originally, and in coproducing it as well as acting in it?
It intrigued me. I'd been looking for this kind of role because it's something that, as a kid, always seemed tempting, tantalizing. Now, having children myself, it suddenly seemed more necessary because my son's forever saying, "Why can't I see the films?" [laughs] And I loved that it was an action-adventure with this noncynical approach. It was retrospective, both in look and feel. It wasn't relying on bad guys being drug dealers and gun smugglers. The good guys were clean-cut, straight up, no questions asked. You're just gonna save the world. That kind of vibe is lacking in a lot of family movies nowadays. They're getting too seedy and too cynical, you know?

Was it important for you to be in a position where your name could carry a movie?
It was never important to me. Once you know you can get work -- which is your first aim as a young actor -- you just want to prove yourself. It's important to get to a place where you can hopefully try to choose work -- to work with people you really like and do jobs you really believe in rather than just crap to pay the rent, you know? And to try and mix the two is really important. But it was a huge eye-opener when [producer Jon Avnet] said, "Look, you get involved in Sky Captain and it'll really help the thing be made." I felt if I could empower someone like [writer/director] Kerry Conran, who I believed in, and had a project that I thought was worthwhile and important, then that was a really great thing. And it meant a lot to me.