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Why Jude Law Wasn’t Afraid to Play Putin

The British actor altered his appearance, but not his voice for the film.

Jude Law insisted that he didn’t fear any blowback while taking on the role of ruthless Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The British actor portrays the Russian dictator in the upcoming film The Wizard of the Kremlin, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday.

“I hope not naively, but I didn’t fear repercussions. I felt confident, in the hands of Olivier and the script, that this story was going to be told intelligently and with nuance and consideration,” Law told reporters.

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“We weren’t looking for controversy for controversy’s sake. It’s a character in a broader story. We weren’t trying to define anything about anyone,” he continued.

Law didn’t adopt a thick Russian accent for the film but did change his appearance to match a young Putin.

“[Director Oliver Assayas] and I discussed this wasn’t to be an interpretation of Putin, and he didn’t want me to hide behind a mask of prosthetics,” Law said.

“We worked with an amazing makeup and hair team and had reference of that period in Putin’s life. We tried to find a familiarity on me. It’s amazing what a great wig can do.”

Olivier Assayas, the film’s director, told Variety that Law “completely transformed and reinvented” the Russian president, learning “both the worst and the less worst” parts about Putin in the process.

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The Wizard in the Kremlin, based on Giuliano da Empoli’s 2022 bestseller of the same name, also features Paul Dano as a fictional spin doctor known as Vadim Baranov.

The character is based on Vladislav Sourkov, a real fixer who has been credited with helping create and curate Putin’s strongman persona.

Assayas described the comedic thriller as a story about the “transformation of politics during our lifetime.”

“The film is very much about how modern politics were invented,” he said. “Part of that evil raised from the rise of power of Vladimir Putin in Russia. We made a movie about what politics has become and the scary and dangerous situation that we all feel we’re in. It applies to a lot of authoritarian leaders.”

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