Jude Law isn’t worried about any ‘repercussions’ he may face for portraying Russian leader Vladimir Putin in new film The Wizard of the Kremlin.
The film, from award-winning French director Olivier Assayas, follows fictional character Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) as he transforms from a young artist in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union to a government spin doctor crucial to Putin’s rise to power.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday attended by Metro, ahead of the film’s premiere at Venice Film Festival, Law shared: ‘I hope not naïvely, but no, I didn’t fear repercussions. I felt confident in the hands of Olivier and the script and that this was a story that was going to be told intelligently and with nuance and consideration.’
‘We weren’t looking for controversy for controversy’s sake,’ he added, while pointing out that Putin is a ‘character within a broader story’ in the movie and that it wasn’t ‘trying to define anything about anyone’.
Many have been struck by pictures of the 52-year-old transformed for the role into Putin, but the British actor was clear to stress that neither he nor his director wanted him to do an impersonation.
‘[Assayas] didn’t want me to hide behind a mask of prosthetics,’ Law – who doesn’t affect any kind of Russian accent for the part – continued. ‘Nonetheless, he works with an amazing makeup and hair team. We had a lot of reference for that period of Putin’s life, and we just tried to find a familiarity on me. It’s amazing what a great wig can do!’
Clouds of Sils Maria filmmaker Assayas chimed in to praise his star, explaining: ‘I needed to work with a great actor who will understand all the complex nuances of the character and who would recreate from the inside one part of whatever Vladimir Putin is.
‘I needed someone who had the power and intelligence and extraordinary skills to appropriate the character without looking like Vladmir Putin, [who could] become a vessel for what he represents not physically, but intellectually and historically, to this moment we’re going through.’
Two-time Oscar nominee Law also shared how difficult he initially found it to portray Putin.
‘The tricky side to me was that the public face that we see gives very, very little away. I was conflicted as an actor often with Olivier, who would want me, understandably, as a character within the scene, to portray this or that – an emotion or to motivate a scene.’
But he revealed that battle between ‘trying to show very little but feel and portray an awful lot from within’ ended up being the key to his performance.
Law, who admitted that he knew nothing about the current Russian president ahead of making the film, also managed to come up with one example of finding a positive to his character.
‘Well, I learned judo, so I took my own positive from that,’ he smiled.
The Wizard of the Kremlin’s cast also boasts Jeffrey Wright, Alicia Vikander and Tom Sturridge and is adapted from Giuliano da Empoli’s highly regarded novel of the same name.
It covers many historical events during Putin’s reign over Russia, including the presidential election of 2000, the Second Chechen War, the sinking of nuclear submarine Kursk and Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Wizard of the Kremlin premieres at Venice Film Festival on Sunday. It’s scheduled for release in 2026.
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