He has long been considered one of the leading heart-throbs of the silver screen, but for his latest role in Olivier Assayas’s political drama The Wizard of the Kremlin , Jude Law steps into the shoes of a far more forbidding figure: Vladimir Putin.

Law has said he was unfazed by the prospect of playing Vladimir Putin and that he did not – he hoped “not naively” – fear any repercussions.

Speaking at a press conference before the film’s premiere at the Venice film festival on Sunday, the Bafta-winning actor said: “I felt confident, in the hands of Olivier [the director] and the script, that this story was going to be told intelligently and with nuance and consideration.

“We weren’t looking for controversy for controversy’s sake. It’s a character within a much broader story. We weren’

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