Hollywood actor Jude Law has not watched another famous actor play Hamlet at the theatre since he took on the role in 2009.

Names such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear have tackled the character on stage, but Law explained: “I still feel like he’s in me and I don’t want to see anyone else’s interpretation.”

Jude Law on the red carpet (Lexus)
Jude Law on the red carpet (Lexus)

The Alfie actor was speaking as he surprised guests with an immersive theatre experience called The Life RX at a London event to launch the new Lexus RX.

Asked if there was a sense of competition when productions he had done previously came out and talking in relation to Hamlet, he reminisced about the advice the late Harry Potter star Alan Rickman had given him.

He said: “His (advice) was learn the lines and I thought well, that was obvious, but what he meant was learn the lines before you get in there because there are so many to learn.

Jude directing on set (Lexus)
Jude directing on set (Lexus)

“He said he probably wouldn’t come to see it because since he had played it there was a sense of ownership because it’s such a personal performance, it’s quite hard to let it go and watch someone else doing it.

“I didn’t quite get that at the time, I thought it was a possessive way of viewing it but I understand now,” he said. “Since I’ve played it I’ve not seen anyone else. I still feel like he’s in me and I don’t want to see anyone else’s interpretation. I’m sure I won’t feel like that when I’m 65.”

Law also spoke about having been in Rome for the past few months working on the Sky mini-series, The Young Pope.

Actor Jude Law, right, and Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, left, work on the set of Sorrentino's TV series "The Young Pope" (Luigi Costantini/AP)
Actor Jude Law, right, and Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, left, work on the set of Sorrentino’s TV series “The Young Pope” (Luigi Costantini/AP)

“I miss it (Italy) terribly,” he said. “I miss the people, the food, it was a wonderful part of my life… working with Paolo (Sorrentino) was joyful, but living in Rome was a really important chapter in my life and I’ll go back for sure.”

The series will see him portraying a fictional American-born pope, Pope Pius XIII, who was born Lenny Belardo.

Oscar-winner Diane Keaton also stars alongside Law, as a nun called Sister Mary.