LOVE AND LOSS

Father-of-five Jude Law speaks to Michele Manelis about the toll of playing a grieving parent in TheThirdDay

IT’S not the fi rst time we’ve seen Jude Law tread into dark, foreboding places in his career. But for the acclaimed actor, shooting psychological thriller The Third Day was an ominous experience, both on and off- screen.

“I certainly underestimated the journey that I was about to embark on, if I am honest,” he says.

“Once I started shooting, I realised there was no getting off this physical and emotional roller- coaster that just did not seem to stop for the five-month shoot,” Law says, with a chuckle.

Set on the mysterious British island of Osea, at fi rst glance this charming and scenic idyll gives the impression of the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of London.

But Law’s character, Sam, mourning the tragic loss of his son, quickly realises that all is not as it seems.

“At times I don’t think Sam really knows what’s happening, so deconstructing his emotional life, from the point of losing his son to the moment you meet him, was really a road map I had to understand. And emotionally it wasn’t a nice place to be really,” he says.

The 47-year- old Alfie and Sherlock Holmes star tapped into his own experience of fatherhood, and the emotional ties he has with his three children – Rafferty, 24, Iris, 20, and Rudy, 18 – from his sixyear marriage to actress Sadie Frost; daughter Sophia, 11, with American model Samantha Burke; and his fi fth child, Ada, 5, with singer Catherine Harding.

He is currently expecting his sixth offspring with new wife of one year, English psychologist Dr Phillipa Coan.

The loss of a child is every parent’s worst nightmare, so it’s understandable Law found portraying a grieving father so gruelling.

“Being in Sam’s skin for so long was not a particularly happy experience because he was in such pain. He was in a pit of grief. Emotionally, every day felt like I had a cloak on and it was hard to get off. And so after I fi nished, I went away on holiday with my wife and two of my kids. I thought I’d purged myself of Sam. I cut my hair, swam in the sea, but when I heard the song Dog Days are Over (which features in a pivotal scene), I burst into tears,” he laughs, shaking his head. “It was very powerful stuff.”

Created by Flix Barrett and Dennis Kelly, the six-part limited series is divided into three ‘seasons’: ‘Summer’ and ‘Autumn’, in which Law’s character Sam is the focus; and ‘ Winter’, which stars Naomie Harris as Helen, a strong-willed, pragmatic mother of two daughters who travels to the island to celebrate her eldest girl’s birthday.

Upon their arrival, they are confronted by a racist and hostile community.

Osea Island, a 90-minute drive from London, is the perfect backdrop for the series.

As mysterious as its inhabitants are, whose strange rituals are both fascinating and disturbing to Sam and Helen, this stretch of land (1.5 sq km in size) can only be accessed through an ancient causeway built by the Romans.

The cast lived on the island during the shoot and had to deal with the restrictions of the causeway.

“When the tide rolls in and the causeway disappears, you really get the feeling that you can’t escape. You do feel that vulnerability, and there are only two windows a day to leave,” Law explains, “so living on the island was both immersive and slightly claustrophobic.”

With a career spanning 26 years,

Law is enjoying a particularly prolific time on screen, big and small.

He continues to star in the TV series

The New Pope

(which will begin shooting again once COVID-19 regulations lift); and has three fi lms in the can: The

Nest, The Rhythm

Section and Sherlock

Holmes 3.

Looking back on how he’s managed to navigate life, much of it as a public figure, he has learned hard lessons from his past. “For me, it’s healthier and better that I do not dwell too much on other people’s perception of me. We all have our own relationship with ourselves, and I try not to consider too much or spend too long thinking about the Jude that I become, if you like, in front of fans at a fi lm festival,” he explains. “I feel saner trying to pretend that that doesn’t exist because 99 per cent of the time I’m just Jude, at home.”

THE THIRD DAY 7PM, MONDAY, FOX SHOWCASE STREAMING, FOXTEL ON DEMAND