"In a weird way, it's kind of a relief to think, 'Oh, I know I'm not that young sort of pretty thing anymore.' "
The actor, 39, on the benefits of aging out of being a sex symbol. Law plays the role of older stifling husband Karenin -- and not the dashing young love interest, Count Vronsky -- in Anna Karenina.
Getty ImagesLONDON – Tom Hiddleston, Jude Law, Judi Dench and Hayley Atwell are among the high-profile nominees vying for an Olivier Award this year.
In the best actor and best actress categories, Law and Dench received nominations for their performances in Henry V and Peter and Alice, respectively.
At the British equivalent of the Tony Awards, Law competes with Tom Hiddleston (Coriolanus), Henry Goodman (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) and Rory Kinnear (Othello) for best actor.
Anna Chancellor (Private Lives), Lesley Manville (Ghosts), Atwell (The Pride) and Dench have a tilt at best actress.
The Warner Bros.-backed musical adaptation of Roald Dahl‘s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Sam Mendes, and the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along lead the list of nominees with seven each, followed by the best new musical contenders Once, The Book of Mormon and The Scottsboro Boys, which each picked up six nominations.
The best new comedy category makes a welcome return with original productions The Duck House, The Full Monty, Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense and The Same Deep Water As Me all vying for the award.
Competing for best new play are 1984, Chimerica, The Night Alive and Peter and Alice.
Women dominate the best director category, with Maria Friedman (Merrily We Roll Along), Susan Stroman (The Scottsboro Boys) and Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica) up against solo male nominee Richard Eyre for his staging of Ghosts.
Society of London Theatre president Mark Rubinstein said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s Olivier Award nominees whose incredible talents lit up the West End and contributed to another record-breaking year.”
The nominations for the awards were live-streamed on the web for the first time in their history from the Rosewood Hotel in central London Monday, with Nigel Harman and Leigh Zimmerman doing the announcing.
Broadway’s Tony Awards showed its support for the British stage awards by streaming the nominations live on www.tonyawards.com.
The awards will be dished out at a ceremony at the Royal Opera House April 13 with highlights screened on U.K. commercial web ITV later that evening.
Here are the full nominations:
BEST ACTOR
Henry Goodman for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Duchess Theatre
Tom Hiddleston for Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse
Rory Kinnear for Othello at theNational Theatre, Olivier
Jude Law for Henry V at the Noel Coward Theatre
BEST ACTRESS
Hayley Atwell for The Pride at the Trafalgar Studios
Anna Chancellor for Private Lives at the Gielgud Theatre
Judi Dench for Peter and Alice at the Noel Coward Theatre
Lesley Manville for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ron Cook for Henry V at the Noel Coward Theatre
Mark Gatiss for Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse
Jack Lowden for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Ardal O’Hanlon for The Weir at the Donmar Warehouse & Wyndham’s Theatre
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sharon D. Clarke for The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier
Sarah Greene for The Cripple Of Inishmaan at the Noel Coward Theatre
Katherine Kingsley for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Noel Coward Theatre
Cecilia Noble for The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier
AMERICAN AIRLINES BEST NEW PLAY
1984 at the Almeida Theatre
Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
The Night Alive at the Donmar Warehouse
Peter And Alice at theNoel Coward Theatre
BEST NEW COMEDY
The Duck House at the Vaudeville Theatre
The Full Monty at the Noel Coward Theatre
Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York’s Theatre
The Same Deep Water As Meat at the Donmar Warehouse
BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Eyre for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Maria Friedman for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Susan Stroman for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
Lyndsey Turner for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Gavin Creel for The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Jared Gertner for The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Douglas Hodge for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Kyle Scatliffe for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Rosalie Craig for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Zrinka Cviteši? for Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Jenna Russell for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Charlotte Wakefield for The Sound of Music at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Stephen Ashfield for The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Colman Domingo for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
Josefina Gabrielle for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Nigel Planer for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
MASTERCARD BEST NEW MUSICAL
The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Once at the Phoenix Theatre
The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
BEST REVIVAL
The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier
Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Othello at the National Theatre, Olivier
Private Lives at the Gielgud Theatre
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
The Sound of Music at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Tell Me on a Sunday at the St James Theatre & the Duchess Theatre
BEST THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHER
Peter Darling for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Steven Hoggett for Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Casey Nicholaw for The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Susan Stroman for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
BEST ENTERTAINMENT AND FAMILY
Derren Brown: Infamous at the Palace Theatre
Eric and Little Ern at the Vaudeville Theatre
Barry Humphries’ Farewell Tour: Eat, Pray, Laugh! at the London Palladium
The Wind in the Willows at the Duchess Theatre
AUTOGRAPH SOUND AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC
The Book of Mormon – Trey Parker, Robert Lopez & Matt Stone for book, music & lyrics
Merrily We Roll Along – The orchestra
Once – Martin Lowe for composition & arrangements, Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova for music & lyrics
The Scottsboro Boys – John Kander & Fred Ebb for music & lyrics
WHITE LIGHT AWARD FOR BEST LIGHTING DESIGN?
Paule Constable for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton?
Tim Lutkin & Finn Ross for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
?Peter Mumford for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios?
Paul Pyant for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Simon Baker for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Carolyn Downing for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Clive Goodwin for Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Gareth Owen for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Nicky Gillibrand for The Wind in the Willows at the Duchess Theatre
Soutra Gilmour for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Rae Smith for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Mark Thompson for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
XL VIDEO AWARD FOR BEST SET DESIGN
Bob Crowley for Once at thePhoenix Theatre
Es Devlin for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Tim Goodchild for Strangers on a Train at the Gielgud Theatre
Mark Thompson for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AN AFFILIATE THEATRE
Cush Jumbo for Josephine and I at the Bush Theatre
Fleabag at the Soho Theatre
Handbagged at the Tricycle Theatre
Oh What a Lovely War at the Theatre Royal Stratford East
BEST NEW DANCE PRODUCTION
Compagnie 111 Aurelien Bory/Stephanie Fuster for What’s Become Of You? (Questcequetudeviens?) at the Barbican Theatre
Eastman – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui & Sadlers Wells for Puz/zle at Sadlers Wells
?Richard Alston Dance Company/Britten Sinfonia for Barbican Britten: Phaedra at the Barbican Theatre
OUSTANDING ACHIEVMENT IN DANCE
Arthur Pita for his choreography of Ballet Black – A Dream Within A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
?Clemmie Sveaas for her performance in Witch-Hunt at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House ?
The Mark Morris Season at Sadler’s Wells
?Michael Hulls for his body of lighting work including Ballet Boyz – The Talent at Sadlers Wells
BEST NEW OPERA PRODUCTION
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
Les Vepres Siciliennes at the Royal Opera House
Wozzeck by English National Opera at the London Coliseum
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA
Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Florez for their performances in La Donna Del Lago at the Royal Opera House
Placido Domingo for his performance in Nabucco at the Royal Opera House
English Touring Opera for its brave and challenging touring productions at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
BBC RADIO 2 AUDIENCE AWARD
Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre
Matilda the Musical at the Cambridge Theatre
The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre?
Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre
