Black Sea: Jude Law says playing a Scotsman was 'a bit of a risk'

The Cold Mountain star was worried about adopting an Aberdeenshire accent

As the head of a submarine crew in his latest film, Black Sea, Jude Law is as audiences have never seen him before – but the actor said that taking on the role of rugged Scotsman Captain Robinson was “a bit of a risk”.

Best known for the likes of The Talented Mr Ripley, Cold Mountain and Sherlock Holmes, Law said adopting an Aberdeenshire accent was “a leap – you just hope it works”.

But he said: “Making a character have a regional accent seems like quite a bold move but actually it makes sense because everyone obviously has a voice – and when you find a voice for the character it can be hugely beneficial for layering on something for the part.”

Two-time Academy Award nominee Law plays an ex-Navy man who is callously dropped by the salvage company he has worked for after 11 years.

“So much of the film is about the working man, the skilled man that is spat out by society and done over by the banks,” he said.

“There’s a great social comment to the piece that’s interwoven with the heist and the thriller.”

The film sees Robinson sticking two fingers up to the Establishment as he leads a British and Russian crew in search of a German U-boat stuffed with WWII-era gold that is rumoured to be lying on the floor of the Black Sea.

Jude Law in Black Sea (film still press image from UPI Media)

“My biggest concern was that if you’re going to command men, then you’ve got to have a certain presence,” Law told The Independent.

“There’s only so much you can waggle your finger and shout. You’ve got to have some sort of physical presence, especially when they’re 6ft 5 and Russian.

“You want to know that you can at least stare someone down and maybe bite their knees if needs be.”

Law added that the character’s accent is a constant reminder of what has driven Robinson to undertake such a dangerous mission.

“[The accent] was the only real kind of reference to above the sea,” he said.

“I wanted it to be a reference to it not just being about him... Perhaps his father was a docker who lost his job.

“There’s this idea that it’s a generational thing, that Robinson is another man in his family who has been let down by the system.”

The film, directed by Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Michael Smiley and Scoot McNairy.

Black Sea is released in cinemas on Friday 5 December.